Reduction in network congestion

ABSTRACT

A system, method and non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when read by a processor perform receiving a telephony connection request at a location in a telephony network, the location separated from an intended recipient of the telephony connection request by a target telephony network, determining addressing information regarding the intended recipient, the addressing information including at least routing information or a phone number, determining a status characteristic of the intended recipient based on the addressing information, based on the status characteristic, and determining whether the intended recipient would successfully receive the telephony connection request if the telephony connection request was forwarded to the intended recipient.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation from U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/690,897, filed Apr. 20, 2015, entitled “REDUCTION IN NETWORKCONGESTION”, which is a continuation from U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/105,658, filed Dec. 13, 2013, entitled “REDUCTION IN NETWORKCONGESTION”, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 9,014,353, the entire contents ofeach of which are enclosed by reference herein.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to telephony and, moreparticularly, to reduction in network congestion.

BACKGROUND

Network congestion typically occurs when a link or node is carrying somuch data that its quality of service deteriorates. Typical effectsinclude queueing delay, packet loss or the blocking of new connections.Consequences of these effects include that incremental increases inoffered load lead either only to small increases in network throughput,or to an actual reduction in network throughput. As such, what is neededare solutions to overcome these effects.

SUMMARY

The instant application discloses a system, method and non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when readby a processor perform receiving a telephony connection request at alocation in a telephony network, the location separated from an intendedrecipient of the telephony connection request by a target telephonynetwork, determining addressing information regarding the intendedrecipient, the addressing information including at least routinginformation or a phone number, determining a status characteristic ofthe intended recipient based on the addressing information, based on thestatus characteristic, and determining whether the intended recipientwould successfully receive the telephony connection request if thetelephony connection request was forwarded to the intended recipient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present application and itsfeatures and advantages, reference is now made to the followingdescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a system forreduction in network congestion in telephony systems;

FIG. 2 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of thesystem for reduction in network congestion in telephony systems.

FIG. 3 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of thesystem configured to examine and record connection information for usein determining network congestion conditions.

FIG. 4 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of thesystem configured to determine network congestion.

FIG. 5 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of thesystem configured to determine whether a connection request includes aspoofed identify of an originator of the connection request;

FIG. 6 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of thesystem configured to determine whether a connection request targets arecipient identified on a DNC list;

FIG. 7 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of thesystem configured to determine local number portability for an attemptedconnection request;

FIG. 8 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of thesystem configured to determine whether a connection request targets arecipient that may receive the connection request;′

FIG. 9 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a method 900 forreducing network congestion;

FIG. 10 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a method 1000 fordetermining whether or not an originator of a telephony connectionrequest is valid;

FIG. 11 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a method 1100 fordetermining whether or not an intended recipient of a telephonyconnection request should be called;

FIG. 12 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a method fordetermining whether or not network congestion exists with regards to anintended recipient of a telephony connection request;

FIG. 13 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a method fordetermining whether or not a connection request is likely to return anerror if the connection request were to be forwarded to the intendedrecipient; and

FIG. 14 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a method fordetermining whether or not connection requests should be made forelements of a given set of destination numbers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a system 100 forreduction in network congestion in telephony systems. System 100 mayinclude a traffic control module 102 configured to analyze telephonymessages being sent from one or more originators 104, originating froman originating telephony service 106, to one or more recipients 108 on atarget telephony service 110. System 100 may be configured to intercept,process, or otherwise handle connection requests originating fromoriginators 104 to ultimately be delivered to recipients 108. Trafficcontrol module 102 may be configured to determine whether to forwardsuch connection requests in an attempt to reduce network congestion. Tofacilitate such a determination, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to record information about the connections betweenoriginators 104. Based on such recorded information and/or a givenconnection request, traffic control module 102 may be configured to makedeterminations such as whether connection requests from originators 104indicate automatic dialing operations, whether connection requests fromoriginator 104 violate defined policies, or whether connection requestsfrom originator 104 will be unsuccessful. Based on these determinations,traffic control module 102 may be configured to, for example, forwardthe received connection requests, deny connection requests, spoofreplies, or redirect connections to alternative paths.

Traffic control module 102 may be implemented by, for example, anapplication, function, server, computer, process, executable, sharedlibrary, script, or any other suitable entity. Traffic control module102 may be implemented on, for example, on an electronic device such asa computer, transmitter, server, switch, private branch exchange(“PBX”), or gateway, or on an electronic device communicatively coupledto a computer, transmitter, server, switch, PBX, or gateway. In oneembodiment, traffic control module 102 may be implemented on a gatewayor on an electronic device communicatively coupled to a gatewayconfigured to bridge telephony traffic between originating telephonyservice 106 and target telephony service 110. Traffic control module 102may reside or be communicatively coupled to a device residing within therouting path between originators 104 and recipients 108. In oneembodiment, traffic control module 102 may reside or be communicativelycoupled to a device at a point between the switching of transmissionsegments, service segments, networks, subnetworks, or service providers.

Originating telephony service 106 may be configured to provide accessfor telephony messages for the full or partial route between originators104 and traffic control module 102. Target telephony service 106 may beconfigured to provide access for telephony messages for the full orpartial route between traffic control module 102 and recipients 108.Each of target telephony service 106 and originating telephony service104 may include any suitable combination of telecommunications ortelephony equipment, servers, routers, exchanges, repeaters, amplifiers,transmission lines, subnetworks, or other suitable entities configuredto provide target telephony service 106 and originating telephonyservice 104. In one embodiment, target telephony service 106 andoriginating telephony service 104 may be configured to provide differentportions of a network for the same service. In another embodiment,target telephony service 106 and originating telephony service 104 maybe configured to provide portions of networks for different services.The service provided by target telephony service 106 and originatingtelephony service 104 may include, for example, service-initiatedprotocol (“SIP”) services, short-message-system (“SMS”) services, faxservices, data services, voice-over-internet-protocol services, wirelesscommunication services of any suitable protocol or company, or publicswitched telephone network (“PSTN”) services. In various embodiments,originators 104 and recipients 108 may be addressable by telephonenumbers.

Originators 104 may be implemented fully or in part by, for example,caller 218, texter 222, texter 346, caller 348, caller 350, sender 572,sender 688, or sender 688 of FIGS. 2-3 and 5-7, or any combinationthereof. Originating telephony service 106 may be implemented fully orin part by, for example, voice service 220, text service 224, networkdevice 352, network device 574, network device 690, or source network818 of FIGS. 2-3 and 5-8, or any combination thereof. Target telephonyservice 110 may be implemented fully or in part by, for example, PSTNservice 228, wireless service 232, network device 354, target network576, network device 692, target service network 706, network device 708,network device 711, target service network 806, network device 834, ornetwork device 838 of FIGS. 2-3 and 5-8, or any combination thereof.Recipients 108 may be implemented fully or in part by, for example, PSTNrecipient 226, wireless recipient 230, recipient 356, recipient 358,recipient 360, recipient 694, recipient 710, recipient 713, recipient832, recipient 836, or recipient 840 of FIGS. 2-3 and 5-8, or anycombination thereof.

In one embodiment, originating telephony service 106 may be configuredto provide SIP service and target telephony service 110 may beconfigured to provide PSTN services. In such an embodiment, trafficcontrol module 102 may reside at or be communicatively coupled to agateway configured to exchange messages between an SIP network and aPSTN network.

System 100 may be configured to transmit any suitable messages relatingto any suitable kind of telephony traffic between originators 104 andrecipients 108, such as voice, text, or fax telephony traffic. Suchtraffic may be initiated by originators 104 in an attempt to contactrecipients 108.

Traffic control module 102 may be configured to monitor and recordtraffic or attempted traffic between originators 104 and recipients 108.Accordingly, traffic control module 102 may be configured to examine andrecord requests from originators 104, responses from recipients 108, theduration of any connections established, and any errors arising fromattempted connections. In addition, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to access sources of information about originators 104,recipients 108, originating telephone service 106, or target telephoneservice 110.

Upon interception or receipt of a request for a new connection to beforwarded to recipients 108, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to determine whether or not to forward the request. Trafficcontrol module 102 may be configured to make such a determination inorder to reduce network congestion on, for example, target telephonyservice 110. Reduction of network congestion may be accomplished by, forexample, configuring traffic control module 102 to not forward therequest if, for example, the request would eventually be unsuccessful,if the request is associated with behavior indicative of an auto-dialer,or if the request violates a specified policy of one of the networkservices. In order to determine whether any such condition exists,traffic control module 102 may be configured to examine, for example,the request, the identify of the originators 104 or recipients 108,originating telephony service 106, any equipment on the route betweenoriginators 104 and traffic control module 102, target telephony service110, any equipment on the route between traffic control module 102 andrecipients 108, information recorded regarding prior attempts toestablish connections between originators 104 and recipients 108, orthird-party information.

Connection requests to be sent to recipients 108 that are likely to failor result in only short connection sessions may be expensive in terms ofoverhead and system resources for target telephony service 110 tofulfill. Target telephony service 110 may be unable to receivecompensation for such requests or sessions sufficient to recoup theresources expended attempting to establish such requests or sessions. Inaddition, such requests or sessions may needlessly cause congestion ontarget telephony service 110 or for recipients 108. Consequently,traffic control module 102 may be employed by or provide service fortarget telephony service 110 to reduce network congestion by determiningwhether to forward requests on to target telephony service 110.Originating telephony service 106 may experience similar overhead orexpense in providing the requests or connections to target telephonyservice 110. Consequently, traffic control module 102 may be employed byor provide service to originating telephony service 106 to reduce thenumber of requests forwarded on behalf of originating telephony service106.

In one embodiment, a source of network congestion to be reduced bysystem 100 may include, for example, autodialers, robodialers, voicebroadcasters, predictive dialers, or power dialers. Such entities mayrepeatedly dial phone numbers or send text or fax messages to phonenumbers in an attempt to reach many recipients 108. Such behavior mayincrease network congestion. The behavior may be undesirable if, forexample, such attempts result in errors related to establishingconnections or in a connection that lasts only a short period of time.Traffic control module 102 may be configured to analyze traffic andrequests to determine whether such traffic and requests originate fromone or more autodialers or similar entities in originators 104.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of system100 for reduction in network congestion in telephony systems.

Originators 104 may include, for example, caller 218 or texter 222.Originating telephony system 106 may be implemented by, for example,voice service 220 and/or text service 224. Voice service 220 may beprovided by voice provider 234. Text service 224 may be provided by textprovider 236. Target telephony system 106 may be implemented by, forexample, public switched telephone network (“PSTN”) service 228 orwireless service 232. PSTN service 228 may be provided by PSTN provider238. Wireless service 232 may be provided by wireless provider 240.Recipients 108 may include, for example, PSTN recipient 236 or wirelessrecipient 230.

Caller 218 may include an electronic device configured to makeconnection attempts and establish connections for voice communicationwith a recipient. Caller 218 may be identified, for example, by atelephone number and may make such attempts using a telephone number ofa recipient. Caller 218 may be configured to make such communicationusing one or more service providers such as voice service 220. Voiceservice 220 may include telecommunications or telephony equipment,servers, routers, exchanges, repeaters, amplifiers, transmission lines,subnetworks, or other suitable entities configured to provide requestsor traffic containing voice traffic. Voice service 220 may be configuredto transmit connection attempts or subsequent communication to gateway212 or another device communicatively coupled to traffic control module102.

Texter 222 may include an electronic device configured to makeconnection attempts and establish connections for text communications,such as SMS texts, with a recipient. Texter 222 may be identified, forexample, by a telephone number and may make such attempts using atelephone number of a recipient. Texter 222 may be configured to makesuch communication using one or more service providers such as textservice 224. Text service 224 may include telecommunications ortelephony equipment, servers, routers, exchanges, repeaters, amplifiers,transmission lines, subnetworks, or other suitable entities configuredto provide requests or traffic containing text traffic. Text service 224may be configured to transmit connection attempts or subsequentcommunication to gateway 212 or another device communicatively coupledto traffic control module 102.

PSTN recipient 226 may include an electronic device configured toreceive voice, text, or other telephony communications from, forexample, caller 218 or text 222. PSTN recipient 226 may include aland-based recipient of telephony traffic. PSTN recipient 226 may beidentified, for example, by a telephone number. PSTN recipient 226 maybe configured to receive such communication using one or more serviceproviders such as PSTN service 228. PSTN service 228 may includetelecommunications or telephony equipment, servers, routers, exchanges,repeaters, amplifiers, transmission lines, subnetworks, or othersuitable entities configured to provide requests or traffic containingtelephony traffic to PSTN recipient 226. PSTN service 224 may beconfigured to transmit connection attempts or subsequent communicationfrom gateway 212 or another device communicatively coupled to trafficcontrol module 102.

Wireless recipient 230 may include an electronic device configured toreceive voice, text, or other telephony communications from, forexample, caller 218 or text 222. Wireless recipient 230 may include awireless recipient of telephony traffic. Wireless recipient 230 may beidentified, for example, by a telephone number. Wireless recipient 230may be configured to receive such communication using one or moreservice providers such as wireless service 232. Wireless service 232 mayinclude telecommunications or telephony equipment, servers, routers,exchanges, repeaters, amplifiers, transmission lines, subnetworks, orother suitable entities configured to provide requests or trafficcontaining telephony traffic to wireless recipient 230. Wireless service232 may be configured to transmit connection attempts or subsequentcommunication from gateway 212 or another device communicatively coupledto traffic control module 102.

System 100 may include database caches 242 communicatively coupled todatabases 246. Database caches 242 may be communicatively coupled totraffic control module 102. Database caches 242 may be configured torepackage, reconfigure, or provide access to information in databases246 to traffic control module 102. Databases 246 may include informationnot typically accessible in real-time as required by traffic controlmodule 102. Furthermore, databases 246 may not package information asrequired by traffic control module 102. Databases 246 may not be withinthe control of system 100 or of traffic control module 102. Thus, directaccess of databases 246 may not be possible or may be insufficient fortraffic control module 102 to perform the functionality describedherein. Database caches 242 may include one or more adapters,interfaces, or other mechanisms to provide real-time access ofinformation similar to databases 246 in a format usable to trafficcontrol module 102. Such mechanisms may repackage the information. Inone embodiment, some of databases 246 may be accessible directly bytraffic control module 102. Databases 246 or database caches 242 mayinclude, for example, databases containing information related to:equipment within services such as voice service 220, PSTN service 228,text service 224, or wireless service 232; equipment of recipients ororiginators such as caller 218, texter 222, PSTN recipient 226, orwireless recipient 230; a history of connections, attempted connections,and errors between originators and recipients; billing numbers oforiginators such as caller 218 or texter 222; do-not-call (“DNC”) lists;portability of phone numbers of recipients such as PSTN recipient 226 orwireless recipient 230; caller identification information; addressinformation; or home or virtual location registers of recipients.Traffic control module 102 may be configured to access databases 246 ordatabases 242 by the configuration and operation as shown, for example,in FIGS. 3-8.

System 100 may include a user 244 communicatively coupled to trafficcontrol module 102. User 244 may include software, applications,servers, processes, devices, or other suitable mechanisms for presentingthe control, use, and results of system 100 to a user. User 244 mayinclude a user interface for visualizing the operation of system 100 andfor inputting values or controls for the operation of system 100. Suchcontrols may include, for example, thresholds for determining that theconnections or requests handled by system 100 originate fromauto-dialers or contribute to excessive network congestion. Further, thecontrols may include an identification of one or more service providers(such as voice provider 234, text provider 236, PSTN provider 238, orwireless provider 240) for which traffic control module 102 may providereduction of network congestion. User 244 may include a humanadministrator to manually control or a machine configured toautomatically control the operation of system 100.

Traffic control module 102 may reside on an electronic device such as acomputer, transmitter, server, switch, private branch exchange (“PBX”),or gateway, or on an electronic device communicatively coupled to acomputer, transmitter, server, switch, PBX, or gateway. Such anelectronic device may include a processor 214 coupled to a memory 216.Traffic control module 102 may include instructions logic resident inmemory 216 for execution by processor 214. In one embodiment, trafficcontrol module 102 may reside on a gateway 212.

Processor 214 may comprise, for example a microprocessor,microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP), application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), or any other digital or analog circuitryconfigured to interpret and/or execute program instructions and/orprocess data. In some embodiments, processor 214 may interpret and/orexecute program instructions and/or process data stored in memory 216.Memory 216 may include any system, device, or apparatus configured tohold and/or house one or more memory modules. Each memory module mayinclude any system, device or apparatus configured to retain programinstructions and/or data for a period of time (e.g., computer-readablemedia).

Gateway 212 may be configured to transfer traffic from voice service 220or text service 224 on to, for example, PSTN service 228 or wirelessservice 232. In one embodiment, voice service 220 may be configured toprovide information through Session-Initiated Protocol (“SIP”). Thus,gateway 212 may be configured as an SIP-PSTN or an SIP-Wireless gateway.In another embodiment, text service 224 may include ashort-message-service center (“SMSC”). Thus, gateway 212 may beconfigured as an SMSC-PSTN or an SMSC-Wireless gateway.

Traffic control module 102 may be communicatively coupled to one or moreof voice provider 234, text provider 236, PSTN provider 238 or wirelessprovider 240. Traffic control module 102 may be configured to receiveinstructions such as operational parameters from such providers. Theoperational parameters may include, for example, thresholds fordetermining whether requests or connections between originators andrecipients is indicative of auto-dialing or excessive network usage,checks to made upon connection requests, or mechanisms of denying aconnection request. Traffic control module 102 may be configured sendinformation regarding blocked or allowed requests to the providers.

In operation, traffic control module 102 may be executing on gateway 212or on an electronic device communicatively coupled to gateway 212.Traffic control module 102 may receive input regarding analysis to berun on received traffic, thresholds to apply during the analysis, orother information from user 244 or one or more of voice provider 234,text provider 236, PSTN provider 238, or wireless provider 240. Trafficcontrol module 102 may monitor intercepted connection requests orcommunication at gateway 212 or another suitable point between theoriginators and recipients of system 100.

Caller 218 or texter 222 may initiate communication with PSTN recipient226 or wireless recipient 230. The communication may include aconnection request as part of, for example, voice or text communication.The communication may be transmitted through voice service 220 or textservice 224 and arrive at gateway 212.

Traffic control module 102 may detect the connection request andsubsequent communication. Traffic control module 102 may store detailsregarding the connection request and subsequent communication in asuitable database, record, file or other mechanism. Such details mayinclude, for example, the identity of caller 218, texter 222, PSTNrecipient 226, or wireless recipient 230, the identity of equipment invoice service 220, text service 224, PSTN service 228, or wirelessservice 232, the length of any connections established, or any errorsdetermined in attempting such connections.

To determine whether or not to forward the connection request to PSTNservice 228 or wireless service 232, traffic control module 102 mayaccess information such as those accessible through database caches 242or databases 246. Traffic control module 102 may use such information inconjunction with the identity of caller 218, texter 222, PSTN recipient226, or wireless recipient 230, the identity of equipment in voiceservice 220, text service 224, PSTN service 228, or wireless service232.

In one embodiment, traffic control module 102 may determine whether ornot the traffic from caller 218, voice service 220, texter 222, or textservice 224 to PSTN service 228, PSTN recipient 226, wireless service232, or wireless recipient 230 indicates excessive telephony traffic. Ina further embodiment, traffic control module 102 may make such adetermination by analyzing whether the requests between a specificcombination of such entities exceeds a specified threshold, a number offailed such attempts exceeds a specified threshold, a number of suchattempts has resulted in a number of short-duration connections thatexceed a specified threshold, or any combination thereof. If suchthresholds are exceeded, traffic control module 102 may determine thatnetwork congestion may be reduced by, for example, throttling requestsfrom a given originator or service. Such a determination may includedetermining that caller 218 or texter 222 is engaged in autodialing.Such an embodiment may be implemented by, for example, the configurationand operation illustrated in FIGS. 3-4.

In another embodiment, traffic control module 102 may determine whetheror not a connection request is associated with an attemptedcommunication that violates specified policy. Such policies may bedefined by user 244 or a provider service for which traffic controlmodule 102 is operating. The policies may include, for example,enforcing a DNC list or requiring that a billing phone number match thephone number represented by a connection request. Violating such apolicy may cause traffic control module 102 to, for example, deny therequest or further throttle requests from the given originator. Such anembodiment may be implemented by, for example, the configuration andoperation illustrated in FIGS. 5-6.

In yet another embodiment, traffic control module 102 may determinewhether or not a connection request is likely to be fulfilled onceforwarded to, for example, PSTN service 228 or wireless service 232. Theconnection request is likely to not be fulfilled if, for example, theconnection request is made to an invalid number or is made to a wirelessdevice that is not active and available to receive the request. If sucha request is not likely to be fulfilled, traffic control module 102 may,for example, deny the request or further throttle requests from thegiven originator. Such an embodiment may be implemented by, for example,the configuration and operation illustrated in FIGS. 7-8.

If traffic control module 102 has not denied the connection request, itmay forward the connection request to PSTN service 228 or wirelessservice 232, as appropriate. The request may be forwarded to recipientssuch as PSTN recipient 226 or wireless recipient 230.

Traffic control module 102 to communicate the results of analyzingreceived requests to a service provider such as one or more of voiceprovider 234, text provider 236, PSTN provider 238, or wireless provider240. Traffic control module 102 may deny or throttle connection requestsof behalf of such a service provider. Thus, traffic control module 102may limit network congestion entering, for example, PSTN service 228 orwireless service 232, or network congestion issued by voice service 220or text service 224. In one embodiment, traffic control module 102 mayinvoice voice provider 234, text provider 236, PSTN provider 238, orwireless provider 240 for blocked network congestion.

Further, traffic control module 102 may communicate the results ofanalyzing received to user 244. Traffic control module 102 may presentits traffic congestion results in a visualizer interface.

FIG. 3 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of system100 configured to examine and record connection information for use indetermining network congestion conditions.

In one embodiment, system 100 may include a call record database 362configured to store information regarding attempted and establishedconnections. Call record database 362 may be implemented in, forexample, a record, file, database, or any other suitable mechanism.Traffic control module 102 may be communicatively coupled to call recorddatabase 362 and may be configured to populate and access call recorddatabase 362. Any suitable information may be included in call recorddatabase 362 to identify a connection request or established connection.For example, call record database 362 may contain indications of anoriginator, equipment used in transmitting the traffic from theoriginator, a recipient, equipment used in transmitting the traffic tothe recipient, connection length, or status. Any suitable indications ofequipment used to transmit the traffic from the originator may be used,including an identifier such as a source operating carrier number(“OCN”) or a source number. Any suitable indications of equipment usedto transmit the traffic to the recipient may be used, including adestination OCN, a destination number, or an exchange identifier. An OCNmay include a four-digit identifier used to identify a service providerlocal to the originator or recipient. An exchange identifier may includean identifier of a local telephony exchange such as a PBX through whichcommunication to the recipient is routed. A source or destination numbermay include a phone number. Status indications may include an outcomefrom an attempted connection, such as whether a connection was made oran error that was encountered. Such indications may include, forexample, an indication that a connection failed a DNC check, a numbervalidity check, an anti-spoofing check, or a check to determine whethera destination device is online and active. Length indications mayindicate for how long a connection was established. If the length of agiven recorded connection does not reach a minimum threshold, trafficcontrol module 102 may be configured to record such a connection as a“hang-up,” wherein it is assumed that the short duration of theconnection was due to a recipient hanging up soon after receiving acall. Such a minimum threshold may be set by, for example, a user ofsystem 100 or a service provider employing the use of traffic controlmodule 102.

Traffic control module 102 may be configured to store the results of anattempted connection or connection requests in call record database 362.Further, traffic control module 102 may be configured to access callrecord database 362 to determine information about past connectionrequests.

Texter 346, caller 348, and caller 350 may implement fully or in partoriginators 104, caller 218 and/or texter 222 of FIGS. 1-2. Texter 346,caller 348, and caller 350 may be included within a single phone bank.Recipient 356, recipient 358, and recipient 360 may implement recipients108, PSTN recipient 226, and/or wireless recipient 230 of FIGS. 1-2.Texter 346, caller 348, caller 350, recipient 356, recipient 358, andrecipient 360 may include an identifying phone number. Texter 346 mayattempt to make a connection request with one or more of recipient 356,recipient 358, or recipient 360 to send, for example, an SMS textmessage. Caller 348 and caller 350 may attempt to make a connectionrequest with one or more of recipient 356, recipient 358, or recipient360 to send, for example, voice traffic.

Network device 352 may implement one portion of, for example,originating telephony service 106, voice service 220, and/or textservice 224 of FIGS. 1-2. Network device 354 may implement one portionof, for example, target telephony service 110, PSTN service 228, and/orwireless service 232 of FIGS. 1-2. Network device 354 and network device352 may include an identifier. Such an identifier may include, forexample, a four-digit OCN. Network device 352 may be configured toforward connection requests and traffic originating from, for example,texter 346, caller 348, or caller 350 to gateway 212. Network device 354may be configured to forward connection requests and traffic sent fromgateway 212 to, for example, recipient 356, recipient 358, or recipient360. Further, network device 354 may be configured to forward replymessages originating from recipient 356, recipient 358, or recipient 360to, for example, texter 346, caller 348, or caller 350 via gateway 212.

Traffic control module 102 operating in, for example, gateway 212, maybe configured to populate call record database 362 with informationdetermined from examining intercepted traffic and/or accessinginformation from other sources. For example, traffic control module 102may be configured to examine connection requests as they are receivedfrom the originators. Traffic control module 102 may be configured toanalyze the contents of the connection request to determine any suitableinformation contained therein for populating call record database 362.In a further example, traffic control module 102 may be configured todetermine phone numbers associated with originator of the request suchas texter 346, caller 348, or caller 350, or identifiers of equipment inthe service which forwarded the request such as the OCN of networkdevice 352. Some information regarding the recipients of the request maybe available in the connection request. Traffic control module 102 maybe configured to determine destination phone numbers such as thoseassociated with recipient 356, recipient 358, or recipient 360 from theconnection request. In one embodiment, information regarding equipmentin the target service such as network device 354 may be available in theconnection request. In another embodiment, such information may beaccessible by accessing database caches or databases, or by examiningreply messages.

In another example, traffic control module 102 may be configured toexamine replies to connection requests as they are received from therecipients in order to populate call record database 362. Trafficcontrol module 102 may be configured to analyze the contents of theconnection request to determine any suitable information containedtherein for populating call record database 362. Traffic control module102 may be configured to determine phone numbers of recipient 356,recipient 358, or recipient 360 from a reply message. Further, trafficcontrol module 102 may be configured to determine the identity ofequipment relaying traffic to the recipients such as the OCN of networkdevice 354 from the reply message. In addition, traffic control module102 may be configured to determine the status of the connection requestby examining the reply message. In a further example, the reply messagemay include an indication that the connection was accepted, or that aparticular error occurred. Such errors may include, for example,indications that the recipient was not valid, was not active, or was notregistered.

In yet another example, traffic control module 103 may be configured toaccess other sources of information, such as database caches ordatabases, to determine information to populate call record database362. Traffic control module 102 may be configured to access any suitablesource of information. In one embodiment, traffic control module 102 maybe configured to access a database containing information on networkequipment to transport traffic between originators and recipients. Forexample, traffic control module 102 may be configured to access LocalExchange Routing Guide (“LERG”) database 364. LERG database 364 mayinclude information concerning OCNs, company names, exchanges, accounttype—such as mobile, landline, or fax—or other equipment. Suchinformation may be indexed according to a phone number. Traffic controlmodule 102 may determine an OCN or exchange associated with a givenoriginator or recipient based on the phone numbers determined from theconnection request.

Traffic control module 102 may be configured to forward any suitableinformation to the originators in response to the connection request. Ifa reply is received from the recipient, traffic control module 102 maybe configured to forward the reply to the originators. Such a reply mayinclude an error. In one embodiment, if traffic control module 102determines that the connection request would result in an error,violates a policy of a service provider, or would cause networkcongestion, traffic control module 102 may be configured to forward aspoofed reply to the originators. A spoofed reply may include a responsewhich is different from the reply which would be received from theintended recipient if the connection request had been sent. The spoofedreply may include messages indicating, for example, a busy signal, anumber not in service signal, a phone ringing, a voicemail signal, or asignal indicating a phone ringing without an answer. The spoofed replymay be configured to cause the originator to perceive that the recipienthas received the connection request and is processing the connectionrequest. Such a perception may be caused by a spoofed delay. Inaddition, the spoofed reply may be configured to cause the originator toperceive that there has been no response from the intended recipient.The spoofed reply may be in contrast to the reply which would have beensent if the connection request had been sent and received by theintended recipient. For example, the spoofed reply may be sent insteadof a successful connection request, a “fast-busy” signal indicatingoverload, or a signal indicating not a working number.

In operation, traffic control module 102 may be operating in system 100to analyze traffic between originators such as texter 346, caller 348,and caller 350 and recipients such as recipient 356, recipient 358, orrecipient 360. Texter 346 may have a phone number of 555-555-3333.Caller 348 may have a phone number of 555-555-2222. Caller 350 may havea phone number of 555-555-4444. Caller 348 and caller 350 may beoperating in conjunction in a call center. Recipient 356 may have aphone number of 555-555-1110. Recipient 358 may have a phone number of555-555-1111. Recipient 360 may have a phone number of 555-555-1112.Caller 348 may attempt to call recipient 356 and recipient 358. Texter346 may attempt to text recipient 360. Caller 350 may attempt to callrecipient 360. Recipient 360 may be, for example, nonexistent or amobile device that is switched off.

Texter 346, caller 348, or caller 350 may send their request throughequipment such as network device 352. Network device 352 may have an OCNof “1234.” Network device 352 may forward the request received togateway 212.

Once a request has been received by gateway 212, traffic control module102 may examine the request for associated information. For example, thephone numbers of texter 346, caller 348, or caller 350 may be recordedin call record database 362. In one embodiment, traffic control module102 may examine LERG database 364 to determine the associated OCN oftexter 346, caller 348, or caller 350 based on the originator's phonenumber. In another embodiment, the OCN associated with texter 346,caller 348, or caller 350 may be included within the request. The OCN“1234” associated with network device 352 may be recorded as a sourceOCN in association with the originator's phone number as a source phonenumber in call record database 362.

Traffic control module 102 may examine the request for a destinationphone number associated with, for example, recipient 356, recipient 358,or recipient 360. Traffic control module 102 may record the destinationphone number in call record database 362 and associate it with thesource phone number from the request. In one embodiment, traffic controlmodule 102 may examine LERG database 364 to determine the OCN of networkequipment associated with the recipient. Traffic control module 102 mayexamine the LERG database 364 using the destination phone number as anindex. In another embodiment, traffic control module 102 may determinethe OCN from a subsequent reply. Traffic control module 102 may record“5678,” the OCN associated with network device 354, which may beassociated with the recipients. In yet another embodiment, trafficcontrol module 103 may access LERG database 364 to determine anidentifier of a local exchange for the recipient. Such an identifier mayindicate a geographic local area for the recipient. For example, thelocal exchange for the recipients may be identified as “Seaside.”Traffic control module 103 may look up such information using thedestination phone number as an index.

Traffic control module 103 may determine a status resulting from theconnection request. Traffic control module 103 may determine such astatus in any suitable manner. In one embodiment, traffic control module103 may determine the status by accessing one or more databases or othersources of information. For example, traffic control module 103 mayaccess databases to determine whether the connection request is madefrom an autodialer, exceeds allowable network congestion limits,violates a DNC policy, an anti-spoofing policy, is made to a nonexistentnumber, or is made to a mobile device that is switched off or notregistered. In another embodiment, traffic control module 103 mayreceive a status in a reply returned from a recipient or related networkequipment.

For example, a connection request between caller 348 and recipient 356may result in a voice connection. Traffic control module 103 may recordsuch a result in call record database 362. The duration of theconnection may be recorded. In one embodiment, if the connection isestablished for less than a threshold amount of time, traffic controlmodule 103 may characterize the connection as resulting in a hang-up.Traffic control module 102 may record the determined result in callrecord database 362 in association with the connection request.

In another example, a connection request between caller 348 andrecipient 358 may result in a failure to connect because recipient 358is listed in a DNC list. Typical DNC list enforcement is conductedbefore a call is placed. Traffic control module 102 may conduct thecheck against DNC resources and deny the connection request withoutforwarding the connection request to recipient 358. Traffic controlmodule 102 may record the determined result in call record database 362in association with the connection request.

In yet another example, a connection request between texter 346 andrecipient 360 may result in a failure to connect because the phonenumber of recipient 360 is invalid. Traffic control module 102 mayconduct a check to determine whether the phone number of recipient 360is valid and deny the connection request without forwarding theconnection request to recipient 360. Traffic control module 102 mayrecord the determined result in call record database 362 in associationwith the connection request.

In still yet another example, a connection request between caller 350and recipient 360 may result in a failure to connect because recipient360 is inactive or switched off. Traffic control module 102 may conducta check to determine whether the recipient 360 is inactive or switchedoff and deny the connection request without forwarding the connectionrequest to recipient 360. Traffic control module 102 may record thedetermined result in call record database 362 in association with theconnection request.

If the connection request has generated a reply from the recipient, thereply may be forwarded to the originator. In one embodiment, if trafficcontrol module 102 determines that the connection request should bedenied, traffic control module 102 may cause a spoofed reply to beforwarded to the originator.

FIG. 4 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of system100 configured to determine network congestion.

System 100 may include settings 470 configured to provide informationfor traffic control module 102 to determine whether network congestionexists or is likely given a new connection request. Settings 470 may beimplemented in a file, database, record, or any other suitablemechanism. Settings 470 may be set by, for example, a user of system 100or a service provider for which traffic control module 102 is reducingnetwork congestion. Settings 470 may include any suitable criteria,test, threshold, or other mechanism of evaluating network congestion.Settings 470 may contain criteria identifying a particular aspect oftelephony traffic or connection requests. Further, settings 470 mayinclude criteria identifying a threshold of such aspects.

In one embodiment, settings 470 may contain criteria with respect topreviously received connection requests for whether forwarding a newconnection request would cause excessive network congestion. Trafficcontrol module 102 may be configured to use settings 470 in view ofinformation from call record database 362 to determine whether or not toforward the new connection request. Settings 470 may contain anysuitable criteria for evaluating whether forwarding a new connectionrequest would cause excessive network congestion. Such criteria may bedetermined by experimental evaluation of behavior typical of autodialerbehavior, or of connections or connection requests tending to causeunnecessary congestion of a network because of high overhead costs withlittle actual telephony traffic.

Settings 470 may include criteria specifying a certain number orpercentage of short-duration connections or determined errors. Abovesuch criteria, excessive network congestion may result. Suchshort-duration connections may include connections existing for lessthan a threshold duration, which may be considered to be, for example, acall wherein the recipient quickly hung-up a call reaching voice-mail.Determined errors may include errors reported by a recipient or serviceprovider, or errors determined by traffic control module 102. The errorsdetermined by traffic control module 102 may include, for example, aconnection request that would violate a policy of a service provider, orwould be directed towards an invalid or inactive phone number. A largenumber of short-duration or error-generating calls may be indicative ofreceiving or generating automatic phone calls. For example, anautodialer phone bank using a particular OCN may sequentially dial eachnumber within a given destination OCN, greatly increasing the number ofhang-ups of calls and errors for recipients within the destination OCN.The specified number or percentage of short-duration connections ordetermined errors may be applied to any suitable entity. For example,settings 470 may include a threshold of short-duration connections ordetermined errors to be applied to any combination of a destination andsource phone number, OCN, or exchange. In another example, settings 470may include a threshold of short-duration connections or determinederrors to be applied at a single destination or source phone number,OCN, or exchange. A determined percentage of error or short-durationresults may be determined on a designated, specified, or default timeperiod.

Settings 470 may include criteria specifying an absolute amount oftraffic or an increase in traffic. Above such criteria, excessivenetwork congestion may result. Such traffic may indicate a high numberof calls or texts, which may be indicative of receiving or generatingautomatic phone calls. In one embodiment, the criteria may include athreshold amount of traffic or an increase in traffic regarding a singleportion of a network. For example, an autodialer may sequentially dialeach number within a given destination exchange, greatly increasing thenumber of calls within the exchange. Settings 470 may include athreshold for the number of calls or for an increase in the number ofcalls within the exchange or a threshold for a percentage increase inthe number of calls within the exchange. If such calls originate fromsenders associated with, for example, a given network device with anOCN, settings 470 may include a thresholds for the originating OCN. Inanother embodiment, Settings 470 may include criteria for evaluating anabsolute or percentage amount of traffic between any given two entitieswithin a network. For example, an autodialer phone bank associated withan OCN may be sequentially dialing recipients associated with adestination OCN. Settings 470 may include a threshold for a percentageof calls involving the same two OCNs. The traffic may be measured insettings 470, for example, in number of connections or connectionrequests, a number of CPS for a designated time period, or an increasein percentage of CPS for a designated time period.

The specified amount of traffic or increase in traffic may be applied toany suitable entity. For example, settings 470 may include a thresholdof connections-per-second (“CPS”) or a percentage increase in CPS to beapplied to a destination or source phone number, OCN, or exchange.

Settings 470 may include criteria for evaluating a particular connectionor connection request. In one embodiment, such criteria may include acharacterization of a short-duration call in the form of a hang-up by arecipient. In another embodiment, such criteria may include a call thatreaches voicemail and immediately terminates. Connections or connectionrequests so categorized may be used by other criteria in settings 470 toevaluate telephony traffic. In yet another embodiment, settings 470 mayinclude criteria using a result from a particular test that has beenapplied to a connection request. For example, settings 470 may includecriteria using the result of a test conducted by traffic control module102 to determine whether a connection request is directed towards aninvalid number or a device that is unavailable or not registered. Instill yet another embodiment, settings 470 may include criteriaspecifying behavior indicative of a given entity that indicates theentity is engaging in autodialing. For example, settings 470 may includea threshold of a maximum number of sequential numbers that may beaddressed by connection requests from a given entity such as an OCN.Settings 470 may include information for indicating that the connectionrequest should be allowed if a connection request is not found toviolate any thresholds indicating network congestion.

Settings 470 may include information about where to send a report or alog if a given congestion indicator is detected. Such information maycontain an invoice. For example, settings 470 may include an indicationthat a given service provider should be notified or invoiced if networkcongestion is determined or if a connection request is blocked.

Settings 470 may include actions to be conducted as a result ofspecified criteria that are met. Traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to implement the action. Any suitable action may be included.In one embodiment, settings 470 may designate that a connection requestshould be denied. In a further embodiment, settings 470 may designatethat connection requests should continue to be denied at a specifiedrate. Such a designation may cause traffic control module 102 tothrottle the connection request, allowing some connection requests anddenying the remainder connection requests at the specified rate. Inanother embodiment, settings 470 may designate that a particularaction—such as denying or throttling—be taken for a specified period oftime. In yet another embodiment, settings 470 may designate particularelements to which the action will be applied. For example, sources ofconnection requests identified by phone number, exchange, or OCN,destinations of connection requests identified by phone number,exchange, or OCN may be identified by settings 470. In still yet anotherembodiment, settings 470 may designate that the connection request andsubsequent traffic are to be redirected through an alternative route tothe recipients. Such an alternative route may, for example, beconfigured to handle traffic with lower priority, may provide lessguaranteed network availability, may transfer traffic in less thanreal-time, and may be less expensive in terms of cost or resources. Inan additional embodiment, settings 470 may designate that one or moretests are to be employed by traffic control module 102 on a present oradditional connection request. Such tests may be expensive in terms ofperformance or resources. Consequently, such tests may be enabled uponother indicators that network congestion may occur. Any suitable testmay be used, such as other elements of settings 470, determining whethera connection request is directed to a recipient on a do-not-call list,determining whether a connection request is for invalid number, ordetermining whether a connection request is directed to a recipient thatis not available or not registered. In various embodiments, a particularaction may be taken for a designated period of time. For example,connection requests from a given network entity may be throttled by aspecified percentage for a set period of time.

Traffic control module 102 may be configured to access settings 470 todetermine suitable action to take upon a received connection request.Traffic control module 102 may be configured may use settings 470 toevaluate the received connection request in light of information fromcall record database 362 to make such a determination. Using actionsdescribed, for example, in FIGS. 1-3, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to determine information regarding the received connectionrequest. Such actions may include evaluating the request, looking upinformation about the request in, for example, LERG database 364, orevaluating a reply from a recipient. The actions may yield informationsuch as a source telephone number, OCN, or exchange, or a destinationnumber, OCN, or exchange. Traffic control module 102 may use thisinformation to access information regarding past connection requests andtraffic from call record database 362. Traffic control module 102 mayapply settings 470 to the connection and traffic information todetermine whether forwarding the connection request to the intendedrecipient would cause unnecessary network congestion. If the rules,thresholds, or criteria in settings 470 are met by such a comparison,traffic control module 102 may apply an action specified by settings470. Such actions may include denying or throttling requests from agiven sender or network component to a given recipient or networkcomponent for a specified time or at a specified rate, redirectingconnection requests and subsequent traffic on to an alternative path orroute to the recipient, or applying additional tests on the connectionrequest.

In operation, traffic control module 102 may receive a connectionrequest. Traffic control module 102 may determine information about therequest by examining the request, accessing sources of data such as LERGdatabase 364, or examining a reply to the connection request. Trafficcontrol module 102 may determine information such as a source number,source OCN, source exchange, destination number, destination OCN, ordestination exchange.

Traffic control module 102 may access settings 470 to determine rules,criteria, or thresholds to apply to the received connection request.Such an application may be made in view of information in call recorddatabase 362.

For example, settings 470 may include a setting 471 with criteria thatthe results of connections or connection requests between any two givenOCNs may not exceed a threshold percentage of errors short-durationconnections or errors. Such such-duration connections may include, forexample, connections classified as hang-up calls or calls reachingvoicemail before terminating. The threshold percentage may be tenpercent. Thus, if ten percent or more of the connections or requestssent from a particular source network device with a given OCN andtargeting a particular destination network device with another given OCNresult in short-duration connections or errors, then the criteria ofsetting 471 may be met. Setting 471 may include an action indicatingthat if the criteria are met, traffic control module 102 should throttlea specified network device, such as the source OCN, by a specifiedpercentage, such as fifty percent. Using the actions specified insetting 471, traffic control module 102 may forward 50% of thesubsequent connection requests between the two OCNs to the recipient,and may send error messages to the originator in response to the other50%. The error messages may include spoofed reply messages, such assending a progress message—indicating, for example, that the recipient'sphone is ringing, waiting a period of time, and sending a subsequentmessage that there was no response.

Settings 470 may include a setting 472 with a criteria that the resultsof outbound connections or connection requests of a given source numbermay not exceed a threshold percentage of errors short-durationconnections or errors. The threshold percentage may be ten percent.Thus, if ten percent or more of the connections or requests sent from aparticular phone number result in short-duration connections or errors,then the criteria of setting 472 may be met. Setting 472 may include anaction indicating that if the criteria are met, traffic control module102 should redirect subsequent traffic originating from the number to adifferent network. Using the actions specified in setting 472, trafficcontrol module 102 may forward subsequent connection requests over, forexample, Network2, which may be configured to provide slower or cheapertransmission services that the service provider designated by therequest.

Settings 470 may include a setting 473 with criteria that the traffic ata given destination exchange or network device may not exceed athreshold of CPS, such as twenty CPS at the “Seaside” exchange. Inanother example, setting 473 may indicate a maximum spike in CPS at thedestination exchange or network device. Excessive CPS at a particulardestination exchange or network device may be the result of autodialingtargeting multiple recipients connected to the same destination exchangeor network device. Thus, if the “Seaside” exchange experiences greaterthan twenty CPS, then the criteria of setting 473 may be met. Setting473 may include an action indicating that if the criteria are met,traffic control module 102 should throttle connection requests from adetermined or specified network device, such as the source OCNresponsible for most of the connection requests contributing to the CPSof the destination exchange. Traffic control module 102 may examine theinformation in call record database 362 to determine from what networkdevices connection requests are coming. For example, traffic controlmodule 102 may throttle 50% of the connection requests from the OCNidentified as the source of the most subsequent connection requests tothe destination exchange “Seaside.”

Settings 470 may include a setting 474 with criteria that connectionswith a duration of less than a given threshold are to be considered bytraffic control module 102 to be connections wherein a recipient hashung-up. Settings 470 may include a setting 475 with criteria thatconnections with a duration of less than a given threshold are to beconsidered by traffic control module 102 to be connections whereinvoicemail was reached at a recipient before the originator terminatedthe connection. Traffic control module 102 may record the status ofconnections falling within criteria 474 or criteria 475 in call recorddatabase 362. Traffic control module 102 may use such designations todetermine, for example, quantities of short-duration connections todetermine network congestion.

Settings 470 may include a setting 476 with a criteria that the numberof outbound connections or attempts from a given source network devicemay not increase more than a threshold percentage within a designatedtime, if the resulting CPS is greater than a threshold amount. Such aspoke of outbound connection may indicate a phone bank of originatorsconducting autodialer operations. The threshold percentage may be onehundred percent, and the threshold amount of CPS may be twenty. Thus, ifa given network device generates an increase of one hundred percent ofconnections or connection requests with at least twenty CPS, then thecriteria of setting 476 may be met. Setting 476 may include an actionindicating that if the criteria are met, traffic control module 102should throttle the network device in question by a specifiedpercentage, such as seventy-five percent.

Settings 470 may include a setting 478 with criteria of where to send agiven report, invoice, or other record of an action taken to reducenetwork congestion. The identified destination may be a service provideridentified as “Servicel.” The criteria may be tied to a particular oneof settings 470, actions taken by traffic control module, or acombination thereof. Setting 478 may specify a time interval in whichthe report, invoice, or record is to be sent. Traffic control module 102may forward a report, invoice, or other record based as specified insetting 478.

Settings 470 may include a setting 479 with criteria that the trafficbetween a source and destination network devices may not exceed athreshold percentage of total traffic for the destination networkdevice. The threshold percentage may be ten percent. Such a conditionmay indicate a phone bank autodialer attempting to connect to multiplerecipients connected to the OCN. Thus, if ten percent or more of thetraffic for a given destination OCN is from a single source OCN, thenthe criteria of setting 479 may be met. Setting 479 may include anaction indicating that if the criteria are met, additional tests,checks, or validations are to be made. Such additional tests, checks, orvalidations may be made on the connection request being evaluated bytraffic control module 102, or upon subsequent connection requests. Suchadditional tests, checks, or validations may include an automatic numberidentification (“ANI”) test validating the identity of an originator ora DNC test validating that the recipient is not on a DNC list. Suchchecks may be expensive in terms of required resources, and thus may bemore efficiently deployed when other indications of network congestionare detected.

Settings 470 may include a setting 480 with criteria that a givenoriginator or source network device may not sequentially dial or contacta threshold amount of sequentially numbered destination recipients. Suchsequential contact may indicate that the originator or source networkdevice is engaged in autodialing. The threshold amount of sequentiallynumbered destination recipients that may be contacted may be ten. Thesequential aspect may be flexible to account, for example, forsequential dialing from lowest to highest, highest to lowest, or forsequential ordering by various quantities, such as every other number.Thus, if ten or more sequentially ordered destination numbers arecontacted by a given originator or source network device, then thecriteria of setting 480 may be met. Setting 480 may include an actionindicating that if the criteria are met, traffic control module 102should throttle the given originator or source network device by, forexample, one hundred percent for one minute.

Traffic control module 102 may conduct one or more actions in responseto one or more criteria of settings 470 being met. Such actions mayinclude denying a connection request and subsequent similar connectionrequests, rerouting a connection request, forwarding the connectionrequest to a recipient, reporting actions to a service provider, orconducting additional tests or checks. Traffic control module 102 maydeny the connection request by issuing an error with an associateddescription, or by spoofing a reply or error by indicating to theoriginator that the connection request is being processed, waiting for atime period, and sending an indication that no reply has been received.

FIG. 5 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of system100 configured to determine whether a connection request includes aspoofed identify of an originator of the connection request. Trafficcontrol module 102 may be configured to make such a determination aspart of an anti-spoofing or ANI test.

Sender 572 may be communicatively coupled to network device 574, whichmay be communicatively coupled to gateway 212 and/or traffic controlmodule 102. Sender 572 may be configured to send connection requeststhrough network device 574, which may be configured to send them togateway 212 and/or traffic control module 102. Traffic control module102 may be communicatively coupled to target network 576, and may beconfigured to forward the connection requests to target 576. Trafficcontrol module 102 may be configured to send a reply, error, or spoofedreply to network device 574 or sender 572. Sender 572 may implementfully or in part one or more of originators 104, caller 218 and/ortexter 222 of FIGS. 1-2. Network device 574 may implement fully or inpart one or more originating telephony service 106, voice service 220,and/or text service 224 of FIGS. 1-3. Target network 576 may implementfully or in part one or more of recipients 108, PSTN recipient 226,wireless recipient 230, target telephony service 110, PSTN service 228,and/or wireless service 232 of FIGS. 1-3.

Traffic control module 102 may be configured to access settings 470 todetermine whether or not to conduct examinations of received connectionrequests for spoofed identities. Such a spoofed identity may include anattempt by sender 572 to disguise its identity in the connectionrequests that it sends. Consequently, a recipient receiving such aconnection request may perceive a false caller identification. Spoofedidentities within connection requests may indicate autodialing, phishingscams, or other undesirable telephony traffic.

Sender 572 may be identified by a number, such as a telephone number.The number of sender 572 may be spoofed, wherein the number does notactually belong to sender 572. The spoofed number may belong to anotherentity, such as spoofed owner 578, or may belong to no owner at all.Network device 574 communicatively coupled to sender 572 may identifiedby an OCN number. Spoofed owner 578 may be communicatively coupled toanother network device, such as network device 580, which may also beidentified by an OCN number.

Traffic control module 102 may be communicatively coupled to anydatabase, database cache, or any suitable source of information todetermine whether a number associated with a presented communicationrequest has been spoofed, counterfeited, or is otherwise false. Such aninformation source may include a database wherein information associatedwith a given number may be determined, and subsequently compared withother information presented by the connection request. Such aninformation source may include billing information for a givenoriginator. Any suitable source of information for performing an ANItest may be used. Such a source of information may otherwise be used forbilling purposes for a given phone number, such as charging the numberfor rendered telephony services. In one embodiment, such an informationsource may include a LERG database 364, or a cache thereof.

In one embodiment, traffic control module 102 may be configured toaccess LERG database 364 to determine whether or not an account existsthat is associated with the number presented by sender 572 in theconnection request. If the access of the database returns, for example,a null value, then traffic control module 102 may be configured todetermine that the connection request has failed the check of billinginformation. Such a failure may indicate an attempt by the originator topresent a spoofed number by the originator. LERG database 364 or trafficcontrol module 102 may provide an interface to interpret a null orfailed result from a source of data such as an underlying ANI or LERGdatabase. Such a database may not be configured for a direct query forchecking the validity of a phone number within its contents.Consequently, LERG database 364 or traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to interpret particular errors or responses to a query inorder to determine that the number was not found.

In another embodiment, traffic control module 102 may be configured toaccess LERG database 364 to determine information included with abilling record associated with a presented number of the connectionrequest. Any suitable information may be used. For example, if thebilling record includes an identification of an associated OCN of anetwork device, the OCN from the billing record may be retrieved.Traffic control module 102 may be configured to compare the informationfrom the billing record with information presented in the connectionrequest. For example, the OCN retrieved from the billing record may becompared against an OCN determined from the connection request. If theinformation does not match, then traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to determine that the connection request has failed the checkof billing information, which may indicate an attempt by the originatorto present a spoofed number.

If traffic control module 102 determines that the connection requestincludes an attempt to present a spoofed number, traffic control module102 may be configured to determine that the attempt fails ananti-spoofing test. Traffic control module 102 may be configured toperform any suitable subsequent action, such as sending an error orspoofed reply or error to sender 572 and network device 574. Trafficcontrol module 102 may be configured to determine such actions byaccessing settings 470. Traffic control module 102 may be configured toforward a connection request that has passed anti-spoofing tests totarget network 576.

In operation, sender 572 may send a connection request through networkdevice 574, which may arrive at gateway 212 and be viewed by trafficcontrol module 102. The connection request may be intended for aparticular entity in target network 576. Sender 572 may include anindication in the connection request that its number is, for example,555-555-5555. Network device 574 may include an identifier such as anOCN value of “1234.” At the same time, another entity such as spoofedowner 578 may exist with the number “555-555-5555,” and becommunicatively coupled to network device 580, which may include anidentifier such as an OCN value of “5678.”

Traffic control module 102 may access settings 470 to determine whetheran anti-spoofing test is to be conducted on the received connectionrequest. Traffic control module 102 may apply criteria in settings 470in view of data in call record database 362 to make the determination.

Traffic control module 102 may conduct an anti-spoofing test upon thereceived connection request. In one embodiment, traffic control module102 may access one or more sources of information to look up knowncharacteristics associated with, for example, the originating numberpresented in the connection request. Such sources of information mayinclude billing information. In particular, traffic control module 102may look up the originating number presented by the connection request,555-555-5555, in LERG database 364.

Traffic control module 102 may receive information associated with thenumber in response. Such information may include information stored withbilling data, such the OCN identified with the number. For example, LERGdatabase 364 may include information that the number 555-555-5555 isassociated with network devices identified by the OCN “5678,” accordingto billing records. Traffic control module 102 may compare the receivedinformation against information presented in the connection request. Forexample, the OCN identified by the billing record, “5678,” may not matchthe OCN associated with the connection request, “1234.” Such adiscrepancy may cause traffic control module 102 to determine that theconnection request has a spoofed number. Thus the connection request mayfail the anti-spoofing test.

In another embodiment, traffic control module 102 may access one or moresources of information to determine whether the originating number isknown. Such sources of information may include billing information. Inparticular, traffic control module 102 may look up the originatingnumber presented by the connection request, 555-555-5555, in LERGdatabase 364. Assuming that 555-555-5555 was not designated to spoofedowner 578 as shown in FIG. 3, but instead was not assigned to any suchentity, traffic control module 102 may receive an indication that thenumber was not found in LERG database 364. Such an indication mayinclude a null or error response from an underlying ANI database thatmay be interpreted by LERG database 364 or traffic control module 102 tomean that the number is not listed in the database. Consequently, if thenumber 555-555-5555 was not present within LERG database 364 or itsunderlying database, traffic control module 102 may determine that theconnection request has a spoofed number. Thus the connection request mayfail the anti-spoofing test.

If the connection request fails an anti-spoofing test performed bytraffic control module 102, then traffic control module 102 may take anysuitable action such as sending a spoofed reply or an error to sender572 and network device 574. Traffic control module 102 may determinesuch actions by accessing settings 470. Traffic control module 102 mayforward a connection request that has passed anti-spoofing tests totarget network 576.

FIG. 6 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of system100 configured to determine whether a connection request targets arecipient identified on a DNC list. A DNC list may include a list ofrecipients that are not to be contacted by certain kinds of originatorsor for certain kinds of communication. For example, a DNC list mayinclude recipients who are not to be contacted by telemarketers. Inanother example, a service provider may issue a DNC list to trafficcontrol module 102 to filter connection requests if indications of anautodialer are detected. Some DNC lists may be maintained bygovernmental authorities. DNC lists may be used by originators todetermine what recipients should or should not be called. However, DNClists may vary by place, jurisdiction, or service. Governmental DNClists may not fully encompass all recipients who wish not to receivecalls of a given type. A service provider may have particularrequirements or desired DNC requests. DNC lists may not be accessible oravailable in real-time to telephony providers, as their use may beintended for originators to use to scrub call lists to prevent calls torecipients on the lists from being created at all. In addition,originators that are scammers or negligent may not follow or observe DNClists.

Sender 688 may be communicatively coupled to network device 690, whichmay be communicatively coupled to gateway 212 and/or traffic controlmodule 102. Sender 688 may be configured to send connection requeststhrough network device 690, which may be configured to send them togateway 212 and/or traffic control module 102. Traffic control module102 may be communicatively coupled to network device 692, which may becommunicatively coupled to recipient 694. Traffic control module 102 maybe configured to block the connection request, or to forward theconnection requests to network device 692, which may forward theconnection requests to recipient 694. Traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to send a reply, error, or spoofed reply to network device690 or sender 688. Sender 688 may implement fully or in part one or moreof originators 104, caller 218, and/or texter 222 of FIGS. 1-2. Networkdevice 690 may implement fully or in part one or more of originatingtelephony service 106, voice service 220, and/or text service 224 ofFIGS. 1-2. Network device 692 may implement fully or in part one or moreof target telephony service 110, PSTN service 228, and/or wirelessservice 232 of FIGS. 1-2. Recipient 694 may implement one or more ofrecipients 108, PSTN recipient 226, and/or wireless recipient 230 ofFIGS. 1-2.

Traffic control module 102 may be configured to access settings 470 todetermine whether or not to conduct a DNC test or check. Such a DNC testmay be made against indications of entities—such as a DNC list—asdefined by a service for which traffic control module 102 is reducingnetwork congestion. In one embodiment, the DNC list may be establishedby a governmental authority. In another embodiment, the DNC list may becustomized by the service for which traffic control module 102 isreducing network congestion.

Settings 470 may indicate that the DNC check is to be conducted upon,for example, all connection requests from a given originator,originating service provider, exchange, or network device. In such acase, the entity may have been determined to be an autodialer. In oneembodiment, such a determination may be made by, for example, a settingor indication from a service provider causing such autodialing. In suchan embodiment, the service provider may utilize traffic control module102 to filter its outbound connection requests. Further, the trafficcontrol module 102 may be configured to filter the outbound connectionrequests from designated entity for additional criteria, such as onlyallowing outbound connections to be sent to valid, active numbers or torecipients of a certain type (such as landline, mobile, or fax). Inanother embodiment, such a determination that an entity is responsiblefor autodialing may be made by, for example, criteria in settings 470regarding a threshold of traffic resulting in errors or short-durationcalls.

Traffic control module 102 may be communicatively coupled to anydatabase, database cache, or any suitable source of information todetermine recipient numbers which are not to be contacted withconnection requests. Such an information source may include a databasecontaining a DNC list. In one embodiment, such an information source mayinclude cached DNC database 698, which may be a cache of DNC database696. DNC database 696 may be unavailable in real-time, or not configuredfor queries as required by traffic control module 102.

Sender 688 and recipient 694 may be identified by a number, such as atelephone number. Network device 690 and network device 692 may beidentified by, for example, an OCN. The number of recipient 694 may becontained within cached DNC database 698. Traffic control module 102 maybe configured to access cached DNC database 698 to determine whether ornot cached DNC database 698 references the number of recipient 694. Ifthe access of the database returns, for example, a null value, thentraffic control module 102 may be configured to determine that thenumber to which the connection request is made is not on the specifiedDNC list. Traffic control module 102 may provide an interface tointerpret a null or failed result from a source of data such as cachedDNC database 698. Such a database may not be configured for a directquery for checking the validity of a phone number within its contents.Consequently, traffic control module 102 may be configured to interpretparticular errors or responses to a query in order to determine that thenumber was not found. However, if such a number is determined to bewithin cached DNC database 698, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to determine that the attempted connection includes anattempt to contact a number on the specified DNC list.

If traffic control module 102 determines that the connection requestincludes an attempt to access a recipient within cached DNC database698, traffic control module may be configured to determine that theconnection request fails a DNC test. Traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to perform any suitable subsequent action, such as sending anerror or spoofed reply or error to sender 688 and network device 690.Traffic control module 102 may be configured to determine such actionsby accessing settings 470. Traffic control module 102 may be configuredto forward a connection request that has passed the DNC test to networkdevice 692 or recipient 694.

In operation, traffic control module 102 may access settings 470 todetermine whether to conduct a DNC test on received connection requests.Settings 470 may designate that a DNC test be applied to connectionrequests originating from particular source entities or sent toparticular destination entities. In one example, the designation may bemade by settings received from a service provider indicating that allconnection requests to or from the service provider should be evaluatedusing a DNC test. In another example, the designation may be determinedfrom other criteria in settings 470, such as thresholds for autodialingdeterminations.

Sender 688 may be identified by a number such as 555-555-5555. Recipient694 may be identified by a number such as 555-555-2222. Network device690 may be identified by an OCN of “1234.” Network device 692 may beidentified by an OCN of “5678.”

Thus, for example, settings 470 may indicate that connection requestsfrom sender 688 identified by 555-555-5555, network device 690identified by “1234,” or a service provider including sender 688 ornetwork device 690 may be evaluated using a DNC test. In anotherexample, settings 470 may indicate that requests sent to recipient 694identified by 555-555-2222, network device 692 identified by “5678,” ora service provider including recipient 694 or network device 692 may beevaluated using a DNC test.

If settings 470 so indicate, traffic control module 102 may conduct aDNC test on received connection requests. Sender 688 may send aconnection request through network device 690, which may arrive atgateway 212 and be viewed by traffic control module 102. The connectionrequest may be intended for a particular entity such as recipient 694 bydesignating the number 555-555-2222.

Traffic control module 102 may conduct a DNC test upon the receivedconnection request. Traffic control module 102 may access one or moresources of information to look up the number of the recipient,555-555-2222, to determine whether the number is within a DNC list. Forexample, traffic control module 102 may access cached DNC database 698.Traffic control module 102 may receive information associated with thenumber in response. If the number is present within cached DNC database698, then traffic control module 102 may determine that the connectionrequest has failed the DNC test. For example, a request for 555-555-2222may yield an entry in cached DNC database 698 and traffic control module102 may determine that sender 688 has failed the DNC test. If trafficcontrol module 102 receives a null or error response from cached DNCdatabase 698, traffic control module 102 may determine that theconnection request passes the DNC test. For example, a request for555-555-1111 may yield a null, error, or empty response from cached DNCdatabase and traffic control module 102 may determine that theconnection request from sender 688 passes the DNC test. If theconnection request fails a DNC test performed by traffic control module102, then traffic control module 102 may take any suitable action suchas sending a spoofed reply or an error to sender 688. For example,traffic control module 102 may send messages to sender 688 indicatingthat the recipient is being contacted and, after a delay, send messagesindicating that there was no response. Traffic control module 102 maydetermine such actions by accessing settings 470. Traffic control module102 may record the action and invoice a service provider for which thenetwork congestion reduction is provided. Traffic control module 102 mayforward a connection request that has passed the DNC test to recipient694.

FIG. 7 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of system100 configured to determine local number portability for an attemptedconnection request. Determining local number portability may be used tofind correct routing information for a target recipient. The targetrecipient may have, for example, a number that has been ported betweenservice providers, or may have a number must be translated into a locallookup number based on where the recipient has registered. System 100may be configured to determine local number portability through anysuitable mechanism. The result of determining local number portabilitymay be correct routing information, such as identification of networkdevices through which a connection request must be sent. Such a resultmay be used to conduct analysis as shown in, for example, FIG. 1-6 or 8.

Sender 688 may be communicatively coupled to network device 690, whichmay be communicatively coupled to gateway 212 and/or traffic controlmodule 102. Sender 688 may be configured to send connection requeststhrough network device 690, which may be configured to send them togateway 212 and/or traffic control module 102. Traffic control module102 may be communicatively coupled to target service network 706. Targetservice network 706 may include, for example, network device 708communicatively coupled to recipient 710 and network device 711communicatively coupled to recipient 713. Traffic control module 102 maybe configured to send connection requests to target service network 706,and more specifically, to entities within target service network 706such as recipient 710 or recipient 713 through network device 708 ornetwork device 711.

Sender 688 may implement fully or in part one or more of originators104, caller 218 and/or texter 222 of FIGS. 1-2. Recipient 710 orrecipient 713 may implement recipients 108, PSTN recipient 226, and/orwireless recipient 230 of FIGS. 1-2. Network device 708 or networkdevice 711 may fully or in part implement target telephony service 110,PSTN service 228, and/or wireless service 232 of FIGS. 1-2.

In order to determine whether or how to forward connection requests toentities within service network 706, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to access routing information for the connection request fromany suitable source. Traffic control module 102 may be configured toaccess such sources to determine whether, for example, to what networkdevices a recipient is attached. Such information may be used todetermine network congestion. A received connection request configuredto be sent to a recipient identified by a number may not be accessibleby that number. To determine where the recipient may actually beaccessed, traffic control module 102 may be configured to look upvarious sources of information.

For example, traffic control module 102 may be configured to look up therecipient of a connection request in a database with routing informationfor a given recipient, such as local number portability (“LNP”) database712. LNP database 712 may include information from a variety of sourcesto provide routing information based on a recipient phone number. LNPdatabase 712 may be implemented by, for example, a database, record,file, data structure, or other suitable mechanism. Traffic controlmodule 102 include, for example, routing information for a given phonenumber. Traffic control module 102 may be configured to query LNPdatabase 712 for the phone number and receive route information inreturn. In one embodiment, such route information may include the OCN ofa network device to which the recipient is connected, such as the OCNfor network device 708 which is communicatively coupled to recipient710. The OCN may be used to determine factors affecting networkcongestion as described herein. Traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to store the retrieved route information in call recorddatabase 362 for further use. In one embodiment, the access of LNPdatabase 712 may be accomplished as part of an all-call-query, wherein acentralized database is checked for such routing information.

In another example, traffic control module 102 may be configured accessLNP database 712 for a number of a recipient. LNP database 712 may beconfigured to return the identity of a service provider that, accordingto LNP database 712, is a provider of service for the recipient. Trafficcontrol module 102 may access a service provider for the recipient basedon such information from LNP database 712 or through other sources ofinformation. In one embodiment, the access of LNP database 712 orthrough other sources of information may be accomplished as part of aquery-on-release, wherein a last known service provider for therecipient is consulted.

Thus, traffic control module may be configured to access a targetservice provider to determine routing information for a given recipientof a connection request. In one example, traffic control module 102 maybe configured to access target service 714. Target service 714 mayinclude routing information associated with the recipient, and may beconfigured to provide such routing information to traffic control module102.

In another example, traffic control module 102 may be configured toaccess former target service 716. Former target service 716 may includea service provider which previously was used by the recipient. Formertarget service 716 may include information regarding the present serviceprovider, such as target service 714. Thus, former target service 716may be configured to redirect the request from traffic control module102 to the target service 714, which may have current informationregarding routing for the recipient. Target service 714 may provide theroute to traffic control module 102, or may provide the route to formertarget service 716, which may in turn provide the route to trafficcontrol module 102. Target service 714 and former target service 716 maythus use onward routing or call dropback routing to provide routinginformation to traffic control module.

In yet another example, traffic control module 102 may be configured toaccess a source of information—such as LNP database 712—to determinewhether the recipient is addressed by a internal service numberparticular to telephony equipment that to which the recipient isregistered. Such an example may occur with mobile devices, wherein thegenerally known number of the mobile device used by other telephonydevices is translated into a internal service number specific to themobile telephony service or equipment associated with the mobile device.Recipient 713, with public number 555-555-1111, may be addressablewithin target service network 706 by internal service number333-333-3333. Traffic control module 102 may be configured to access LNPdatabase to determine the routing information associated with theinternal service number. Traffic control module 102 may be configured totranslate and lookup such information in order to determine routinginformation, which may be used to conduct network congestion analysis asdescribed herein.

In one embodiment, the resulting route information may include the OCNof a network device to which the recipient is connected, such as the OCNfor network device 708 which is communicatively coupled to recipient 710or for network device 711 which is communicatively coupled to recipient713. The OCN may be used to determine factors affecting networkcongestion as described herein. Traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to store the retrieved route information in call recorddatabase 362 for further use.

The sources of information accessed by traffic control module 102 mayinclude sources typically used for downstream routing in real-time.Traffic control module 102 may access such sources of information toobtain routing information for performing congestion analysis.

In operation, traffic control module 102 may receive a connectionrequest from sender 688. Traffic control module 102 may access one ormore sources of information to determine routing information for one ormore recipients of the connection request.

Sender 688 may be identified by a number such as 555-555-5555. Networkdevice 690 may be identified by a number such as “1234.” Network device708 may be identified by a number such as “5678.” Recipient 710 may beidentified by a number such as 512-222-2222. Network device 711 may beidentified by a number such as “5432.” Recipient 713 may be identifiedby a public number such as 555-555-3333, and by an internal servicenumber of 333-333-3333.

Sender 688 may send out a connection request for 555-222-2222,attempting to reach recipient 710. Sender 688 may send out a connectionrequest for 555-555-1111, attempting to reach recipient 713.

In one embodiment, traffic control module 102 may determine routinginformation for the connection request targeting recipient 710 by, forexample, accessing LNP database 712 by using the number 555-222-2222.LNP database 712 may indicate that the number 555-222-2222 is associatedwith routing information including OCN “5678.” Traffic control module102 may use the determined OCN to analyze network congestion. In anotherembodiment, traffic control module 102 may access target service 714.Target service 714 may have registered the number 555-222-2222 asassociated with routing information including OCN “5678.” In yet anotherembodiment, traffic control module 102 may access former target service716. Former target service 716 may have previously registered thenumber. Former target service 716 may include a link to the service towhich the number was transferred, such as target service 714. Trafficcontrol module 102 may use the link to access target service 714, orformer target service 716 may retrieve the information on behalf oftraffic control module 102. As described above, target service 714 mayhave registered the number 555-222-2222 as associated with routinginformation including OCN “5678.” The resulting routing information maybe retrieved by target service 714 returning the information to formertarget service 716, which may return the information to traffic controlmodule 102, or by returning the information to traffic control module102 directly.

In still yet another embodiment, traffic control module 102 may accessLNP database to determine routing information for a connection request,wherein the connection request is routed to a recipient that hasregistered with a service provider using an internal service number. Forexample, traffic control module 102 may receive the request targetingrecipient 713 using number 555-555-1111. Traffic control module 102 mayaccess LNP database 712 to determine that 555-555-1111 has beenregistered using internal service number 333-333-3333. Traffic controlmodule 102 may access a data source such as LNP database 712 todetermine that 333-333-3333 in turn is associated with routinginformation including OCN “5432.”

After receiving routing information, traffic control module 102 maystore the routing information is call record database 362. Trafficcontrol module 102 may use the routing information to conduct analysisof possible network congestion.

FIG. 8 is a more detailed illustration of example embodiments of system100 configured to determine whether a connection request targets arecipient that may receive the connection request. Some connectionrequests may be sent to recipients that are unable to receive connectionrequests. Some such requests may be made repeatedly by an autodialer.Traffic control module 102 may be configured to determine whether areceived connection request is likely to be received if the connectionrequest is forwarded to the intended recipient. To make such adetermination, traffic control module 102 may be configured to conductany suitable analysis based on the connection request, or access anysuitable entity for information associated with the connection request.In one embodiment, traffic control module 102 may be configured todetermine whether an intended recipient of a connection request isvalid. In another embodiment, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to determine whether an intended recipient of a connectionrequest is active or otherwise available to receive connection requests.

Source network 818 may be communicatively coupled to gateway 212 and/ortraffic control module 102. Source network 818 may be configured to sendconnection requests to gateway 212 and/or traffic control module 102.Traffic control module 102 may be communicatively coupled to targetservice network 806. Target service network 806 may include one or morenetwork devices and recipients, including network device 834communicatively coupled to recipient 832, and network device 838 notpresently communicatively coupled to recipient 836. Target servicenetwork 806 might not include recipient 840. Traffic control module 102may be configured to block the connection request, or to forward theconnection requests to various entities within target service network806. Traffic control module 102 may be configured to send a reply,error, or spoofed reply to network devices or originators in sourcenetwork 818. Source network 818 may implement fully or in partoriginators 104, caller 218, texter 222, originating telephony service106, voice service 220, and/or text service 224 of FIGS. 1-2. Recipient832, recipient 836, and recipient 840 may fully or in part implementrecipients 108, PSTN recipient 226, and/or wireless recipient 230 ofFIGS. 1-2. Target service network 806, network device 834, and networkdevice 838 may fully or in part implement target telephony service 110,PSTN service 228, and/or wireless service 232 of FIGS. 1-2.

In order to evaluate received connection requests, traffic controlmodule 102 may be communicatively coupled to any suitable source ofinformation, such as databases or database caches. In one embodiment,traffic control module 102 may be communicatively coupled to a databaseor cache thereof that includes billing, caller identification, oraddress information. For example, traffic control module 102 may becommunicatively coupled to a line information database (“LIDB”) 824 orcache 822 thereof. In another example, traffic control module 102 may becommunicatively coupled to the LERG database 364 of FIG. 5. LIDB 824 mayinclude caller identification information and may typically be used byphone companies to provide caller identification information concerningoriginators to recipients. Such information may be unavailable inreal-time to traffic control module 102, or operate within systemsinaccessible to traffic control module. Cached LIDB 822 may includeinformation cached periodically, on demand, or upon certain events fromLIDB 824. In addition, LIDB 824 or cached LIDB 822 may not be configuredfor queries as required by traffic control module 102.

In one embodiment, traffic control module 102 may be configured toaccess sources of information such as LIDB 824 or cached LIDB 822 if theintended recipient of the connection request is identified as arecipient on a PSTN network. In another embodiment, traffic controlmodule 102 may be configured to access such sources of informationregardless of whether the intended recipient is identified as residenton a PSTN or a mobile network.

System 100 may include LIDB interface 820 communicatively coupled totraffic control module 102 and cached LIDB 822 or LIDB 824 to provideaccess via queries as required by traffic control module 102, thequeries between traffic control module 102 and cached LIDB 822 or LIDB824. In one embodiment, LIDB interface 820 may be included withintraffic control module 102. LIDB interface 820 may be implemented by,for example, any suitable module, library, executable, application,script, function, or other entity. LIDB interface 820 may be configuredto formulate queries from traffic control module 102 into formatsunderstood by cached LIDB 822 or LIDB 824. For example, given adestination number from a connection request received at traffic controlmodule 102, LIDB interface 820 may be configured to form a query to seekthe address of the destination number. LIDB interface 820 may beconfigured to interpret results of queries received from cached LIDB 822or LIDB 824. For example, if an address is returned, LIDB interface 820may be configured to indicate to traffic control module 102 that theaddress is found and that the number is a valid number. In anotherexample, if an address is not returned, LIDB interface 820 may beconfigured to indicate to traffic control module 102 that the addresswas not found and that the number is an invalid number. The resultreturned from LIDB 824 or cached LIDB 822 may be an error or a nullvalue if an entry for the destination number was not found.

If the destination number is not found in sources of information such ascached LIDB 822 or LIDB 824, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to determine that the destination number is not valid. Insuch a case, traffic control module 102 may be configured to send anysuitable response to source network 818. For example, traffic controlmodule 102 may be configured to send an error or spoofed reply to sourcenetwork 818. The spoofed reply may include one or messages indicatingthat the connection request has been forwarded and that no reply hasbeen received. Traffic control module 102 may be configured to store theinvalid number result in a database such as call record database 362.Further, traffic control module 102 may be configured to not forward theconnection request to the intended recipient in target service network806.

If the destination number is found in sources of information such ascached LIDB 822 or LIDB 824, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to determine that the destination number is valid. In oneembodiment, traffic control module 102 may be configured to forward theconnection request to the intended recipient in target service network806. Further, traffic control module 102 may be configured to store thevalid number result in a database such as call record database 362. Inanother embodiment, traffic control module 102 may be configured todetermine whether the intended recipient is active or available beforedetermining whether to forward the connection request.

Traffic control module 102 may be configured to access a source ofinformation, such as cached LIDB 822, LIDB 824, or LERG database 364 ofFIG. 3 to determine the nature of the intended recipient of theconnection request. In one embodiment, if the type of the intendedrecipient is a mobile, pager, or other entity configured to roam betweendifferent network devices in target service network 806, traffic controlmodule 102 may be configured to access one or more sources ofinformation to determine whether the entity is active and registeredwith at least one such network device. Such an access may be made todetermine whether a connection request may actually be received by theentity. In another embodiment, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to make such access even if the intended recipient is notsuch a mobile, page, or other entity configured to roam betweendifferent network devices.

Traffic control module 102 may be configured to access any suitablesource of information to determine whether the intended recipient of theconnection request is active and available to receive the connectionrequest. In one embodiment, traffic control module 102 may be configuredto access information about roaming wireless devices to make such adetermination. As a wireless device is transported, it may come intocontact with a variety of wireless network transmitters, networks, andequipment. The wireless device may be shut on or off. As a wirelessdevice enters the domain of a particular wireless network, device,transmitter, or other equipment, the wireless device may becomeassociated with such an entity. The association may be made in order tocorrectly route telephony connections to the wireless device in itspresent location. The wireless device may thus become registered withonly one such network entity at a time. Upon such a registration,connection information for the wireless device may be stored in aninformation source for the network entity in, for example, a visitorlocation register (“VLR”) associated with the network entity.Information concerning to which network entity or VLR a given wirelessdevice is registered may be kept in, for example, a home locationregister (“HLR”). In one embodiment, a given wireless device may beregistered with one and only one VLR at a time. As a wireless device ismoved from the domain of one network entity to another, the wirelessdevice may be registered with the VLR of the new network entity and HLRmay be updated to reflect the VLR in which the wireless device isregistered. Consequently, traffic control module 102 may be configuredto determine whether the wireless device is registered and active bydetermining to which network entity the wireless device is registered,if any, and by then determining through the network entity whether thewireless device is active.

Thus, for example, traffic control module 102 may be configured toaccess one or more visitor location registers (“VLR”) 830 to determinewhether an intended recipient is active and registered with a targetnetwork or equipment associated with the VLR 830. VLR 830 itself mayinclude an identification of itself to distinguish between other VLRs.VLR 830 may contain indications of possible recipients and whether ornot the recipient is active. A given possible recipient may beregistered within VLR 830 with a local number used to route telephonytraffic within the domain of VLR 830. Such a local number may or may notbe equivalent to the number by which the recipient is normally addressedfrom outside the domain of VLR 830. If the number by which the recipientis normally addressed is not used to index entries in VLR 830, trafficcontrol module 102 may be configured to use information from othersources such as HLR 828 to make queries of VLR 830. In variousembodiments, cached versions of HLR 828 or VLR 830 may be accessed bytraffic control module 102. Such cached versions may be accessed whenaccess to the underlying databases is impractical or unavailable.

Furthermore, traffic control module 102 may be configured to access HLR828 to determine which VLR to access for a given intended recipient, orto determine whether the intended recipient is valid. HLR 828 mayinclude information for a given recipient number, such a number beingthe normal way that the recipient is contacted. The information mayinclude an identifier. In one embodiment, a given recipient number mayhave multiple identifiers associated with it. The recipient may havemultiple identifiers in cases where the recipient may be configured toreceive multiple types of telephony traffic. In another embodiment, theidentifier may be the same as the recipient number. In yet anotherembodiment, the identifier may include a Mobile Subscriber IntegratedServices Digital Network Number (“MSISDN”). In still yet anotherembodiment, the identifier may include an International MobileSubscriber Identity (“IMSI”) number. The identifier may also be used toindex entries in various VLRs such as VLR 830. HLR 828 may also includean identification of the VLR to which the recipient number isregistered.

Thus, traffic control module 102 may be communicatively coupled to HLR828 and/or VLR 830 to determine whether a given intended recipient isvalid, registered, and active. In order to facilitate communication withHLR 828 or VLR 830, traffic control module 102 may be communicativelycoupled to HLR/VLR interface 826. HLR/VLR interface 826 may beconfigured to provide access via queries as required by traffic controlmodule 102 to HLR 828 or VLR 830. In one embodiment, HLR/VLR interface826 may be included within traffic control module 102. HLR/VLR interface826 may be implemented by, for example, any suitable module, library,executable, application, script, function, or other entity. HLR/VLRinterface 826 may be configured to formulate queries from trafficcontrol module 102 into formats understood by HLR 828 or VLR 830, and tointerpret results of queries received from HLR 828 or VLR 830.

For example, given a destination number from a connection requestreceived at traffic control module 102, HLR/VLR interface 826 may beconfigured to form a query to seek an identifier or a VLR of thedestination number and to send the query to HLR 828. HLR/VLR interface826 may be configured to interpret results of queries received from HLR828. In one embodiment, if an identification is returned, HLR/VLRinterface 826 may be configured to indicate to traffic control module102 that the recipient is found and that the number is a valid number.In another embodiment, if an identification is returned, HLR/VLRinterface 826 may conduct additional analysis before determining thatthe number is a valid number. If an address is not returned, LIDBinterface 820 may be configured to indicate to traffic control module102 that the address was not found and that the number is an invalidnumber. The result returned from HLR 828 may be an error or a null valueif an entry for the destination number was not found.

Given an identifier returned or a VLR returned from HLR 828, HLR/VLRinterface 826 may be configured to form a query to seek a status of therecipient and send the query to VLR 830. HLR/VLR interface 826 may beconfigured to determine which VLR to send the query based on the resultsreturned from HLR 828. HLR/VLR interface 826 may be configured tointerpret results of queries received from VLR 830. If no result isreturned, LIDB interface 820 may be configured to indicate to trafficcontrol module 102 that the identifier was not found and that the numberis an invalid number. The result returned from HLR 828 may be an erroror a null value if an entry for the identifier was not found.

In one embodiment, VLR 830 may include a status of whether a deviceassociated with an identifier is switched on or off. The query formed byHLR/VLR interface 826 may include a query for such a status. Thus thequery may result in the value of the status, indicating whether thedevice is switched on or off. HLR/VLR interface 826 may be configured toindicate to traffic control module 102 that the number was found andwhether or not the device is on or off, based on such an indication fromVLR 830.

In another embodiment, VLR 830 may include a null or empty value in, forexample, the local number field if the device associated with theidentifier is switched off. The query formed by HLR/VLR interface 826may thus include a query for the local number. Such a query may resultin, for example, the associated local number if the device is switchedon. HLR/VLR interface 826 may be configured to interpret the receipt ofthe local number as an indication that the device is switched on.However, the same query to obtain the local number may result in anerror or null value if the device is switched off. Thus, HLR/VLRinterface 826 may be configured to interpret the receipt of such anerror or null value of the local number as an indication that the deviceis switched off.

In yet another embodiment, if the device associated with the identifieris switched off, no associated entry for the device may be presentwithin VLR 830. The query formed by HLR/VLR interface 826 may thusinclude a query for the identifier. Such a query may result in, forexample, any information for the identifier if the device is switchedon. If the device is switched off, the query for the identifier mayreturn, for example, an error or null value. HLR/VLR interface 826 maybe configured to interpret the receipt of any information fields as anindication that the device is switched on, and to interpret the receiptof an error or null value as an indication that the device is switchedoff.

HLR/VLR interface 826 may be configured to indicate to traffic controlmodule whether the destination number was found in the combination ofHLR 828 and VLR 830, and whether or not the device is active.

If the destination number is not found in sources of information such asHLR 828 and VLR 830, traffic control module 102 may be configured todetermine that the destination number is not valid. Further, thedestination number may have been determined to not be active orregistered. In such cases, traffic control module 102 may be configuredto send any suitable response to source network 818. For example,traffic control module 102 may be configured to send an error or spoofedreply to source network 818. The spoofed reply may include one ormessages indicating that the connection request has been forwarded andthat no reply has been received. However, the connection request mayhave not left traffic control module 102. Traffic control module 102 maybe configured to store the invalid number in a database such as callrecord database 362. Further, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to not forward the connection request to the intendedrecipient in target service network 806.

If the destination number is found in sources of information such as HLR828 and VLR 830, and is determined by such sources to be associated witha registered and active device, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to determine that the destination number is valid, active,and registered. In one embodiment, traffic control module 102 may beconfigured to forward the connection request to the intended recipientin target service network 806. Further, traffic control module 102 maybe configured to store the result in a database such as call recorddatabase 362.

In operation, recipient 832 may be identified by the destination number555-555-6666, the local number 555-555-8888, and may be active andregistered with network device 834. Recipient 836 may be identified bythe destination number 555-555-7777, but may be inactive and previouslyregistered with network device 838. Recipient 840, identified by thedestination number 555-555-1111 may not be a valid, actual recipient.Recipient 840 may have never existed, or may have existed previously butis disconnected or no longer a working destination number.

One or more originators in source network 818 may make connectionrequests of various possible recipients identified by destinationnumbers. Such destination numbers may include 555-555-1110,555-555-1111, 555-555-1112, 555-555-6666, 555-555-7777, or 555-555-9999.The connection requests may be received or intercepted by trafficcontrol module 102 or gateway 212 and subsequently handled by trafficcontrol module 102.

Traffic control module 102 may evaluate, for a given connection request,whether a destination number is valid, and whether or not devicesassociated with the destination number are registered and active.Traffic control module 102 may make such evaluation through the use ofLIDB interface 820 and HLR/VLR interface 826. If the destination numberis valid, registered, and active, traffic control module 102 may forwardthe request to the intended recipient in target service network 806. Ifnot, traffic control module 102 may send an error or a spoofed replyback to the originator in source network 818. Traffic control module 102may store results of such an evaluation in a database such as callrecord database 362.

In one embodiment, traffic control module 102 may determine the validityor active status of the destination number by accessing information suchas that contained in LIDB 824 if the request is made of a recipient onan PSTN. In another embodiment, traffic control module 102 may determinethe validity or active status of the destination number by accessinginformation such as that contained in HLR 828 and VLR 830 if the requestis made of a recipient in a wireless network.

LIDB interface 820 may access information about received requests in,for example, cached LIDB 822 or LIDB 824. LIDB interface 820 mayformulate and send a query for the received information in suchinformation sources. The query may include a query, for example, foraddress information associated with the destination number. LIDBinterface 820 may interpret the results of such a query. If, forexample, address information is returned as a result of the query, LIDBinterface 820 may interpret such a result as indicating the number isvalid. If, in another example, a null value or error is returned, LIDBinterface 820 may interpret such as result as indicating that the numberis not valid.

For example, traffic control module 102 may receive a request intendedfor a recipient identified by 555-555-1110. Traffic control module 102may send information about the request to LIDB interface 820, which mayformulate a query for the destination number in cached LIDB 822. Thequery in cached LIDB 822 may return an address of “123 Elm Ave.” LIDBinterface 820 may interpret the return of the address information as anindication that the destination number is in cached LIDB 822 or LIDB824, and thus valid. LIDB interface 820 may notify traffic controlmodule 102 that the number is valid in terms of LIDB information. In oneembodiment, traffic control module 102 may determine that thedestination number 555-555-1110 is valid, based on such information, andmay forward the connection request for 555-555-1110 to target servicenetwork 806. In another embodiment, traffic control module 102 mayfurther validate the connection request by, for example, determiningwhether a device associated with the destination number is registeredand active.

In another example, traffic control module 102 may receive a requestintended for a recipient identified by 555-555-1111. Traffic controlmodule 102 may send information about the request to LIDB interface 820,which may formulate a query for the destination number in cached LIDB822. The query in cached LIDB 822 may return no results, an error, or anull value because no entry for 555-555-1111 exists within cached LIDB822 or LIDB 824. LIDB interface 820 may interpret the return of noresults, an error, or a null value as an indication that the destinationnumber is not within cached LIDB 822 or LIDB 824, and thus is not valid.LIDB interface 820 may notify traffic control module 102 that the numberis not valid in terms of LIDB information. Traffic control module 102may determine that the destination number 555-555-1110 is not valid,based on such information, and may not forward the connection requestfor 555-555-1110 to target service network 806. The result of thedetermination may be stored in call record database 562 as a failedattempt to reach the destination number. The connection request maynever leave traffic control module 102 or gateway 212. In response tothe connection request, traffic control module 102 may send an errormessage, a spoofed reply, or other suitable information to sourcenetwork 818. The spoofed reply may indicate to the originator that, forexample, the request was forwarded, that a certain amount of timepassed, but no reply was received.

In one embodiment, access of HLR 828 or VLR 830 may be made aftervalidity of a destination number is checked through access andverification of information in LIDB 824 or cached LIDB 822, as describedabove. In another embodiment, access of HLR 828 or VLR 830 may be madewithout such verification of LIDB 824 or cached LIDB 822. In such anembodiment, traffic control module 102 may have first determined thatthat the destination number is associated with a wireless device.

HLR/VLR interface 826 may access information about received connectionrequests in, for example, cached HLR 828 or VLR 830, to determinewhether the intended recipients of the request are registered andactive. HLR/VLR interface 826 may formulate and send a query for thereceived information in such information sources. The query may includea query, for example, for an identifier or other information associatedwith the destination number in HLR, which if successful may be used tothe access entries in VLR 830. HLR/VLR interface 826 may interpret theresults of such a query. If, for example, an identifier or otherinformation is returned as a result of the query, HLR/VLR interface 826may interpret such a result as indicating the destination number hasbeen registered or is valid. If, in another example, a null value orerror is returned, HLR/VLR interface 826 may interpret such as result asindicating that the number has not been registered or is not valid.HLR/VLR interface 826 may send the interpretation or the result totraffic control module 102.

If HLR/VLR interface 826 receives an identifier or other indication thatthe destination number is registered, HLR/VLR interface 826 may access aVLR identified by the results of the query. Such a VLR may include VLR830. HLR/VLR interface 826 may formulate and send a query to VLR 830 todetermine whether the device identified by the destination number isactive. The query may be formulated using, for example, the identifierreturned from HLR 828. In one embodiment, the query may be formulated toreturn a status indicated in VLR 830 of whether the device is active. Inanother embodiment, the query may be formulated to return information,such as local number, in VLR 830 associated with the identifier. Theexistence of such information may indicate that the status of theassociated device is active, while non-existence of suchinformation—indicated by, for example, a returned null value for localnumber—may be interpreted to indicate that the associated device isinactive. In yet another embodiment, the query may be formulated toreturn any information of VLR 830 associated with the identifier. Areturned value of such information may be interpreted to indicate thatthe status of the associated device is active, while no returnedresults, a null value, or an error may be interpreted to indicate thatthe status of the associated device is not active.

HLR/VLR interface 826 may interpret the results of such a query. If, forexample, an active status, a local number, or other information isreturned as a result of the query, HLR/VLR interface 826 may interpretsuch a result as indicating that the device associated with destinationnumber is active. If, in another example, a null value or error isreturned, HLR/VLR interface 826 may interpret such as result asindicating that the device associated with the destination number is notactive. HLR/VLR interface 826 may send the interpretation or the resultto traffic control module 102.

For example, traffic control module 102 may receive a request intendedfor a recipient 832 identified by 555-555-6666. In one embodiment,traffic control module 102 may have previously determined through, forexample, LIDB interface 820 that such a destination number is valid. Inanother embodiment, traffic control module 102 may have not attempted topreviously determine whether such a destination number is valid. Trafficcontrol module 102 may send information about the request to HLR/VLRinterface 826, which may formulate a query for the destination number inHLR 828. The query of HLR 828 may return two identifiers, “123” and“456”, in VLR “ABC.” One such identifier may correspond to voice servicefor a device with the destination number. The other identifier maycorrespond to another service for the device. HLR/VLR interface 826 mayinterpret the return of the identifier as an indication that thedestination number is registered in HLR 828, and thus valid. HLR/VLRinterface 826 may notify traffic control module 102 that the number isvalid in terms of HLR information. Traffic control module 102 maydetermine that the destination number 555-555-6666 is valid, based onsuch information. HLR/VLR interface 826 may identify the VLR “ABC”associated with the identifiers as VLR 830. Thus, HLR/VLR interface 826may formulate a query for the identifier “123” in VLR 830. In oneembodiment, the query of VLR 830 may be for a status indicationassociated with identifier “123.” In such an embodiment, the query mayreturn a status of “ON.” The local number returned, being associatedwith the destination number 555-555-6666, may be 555-555-8888. Trafficcontrol module 102 may determine that the device associated withdestination number 555-555-6666 is active, based on such information,and may forward the connection request for 555-555-6666 to targetservice network 806. In fact, recipient 852 associated with destinationnumber 555-555-6666 may be active and communicatively coupled to networkdevice 834. The result of the determination may be stored in call recorddatabase 562 as a successful attempt to reach the destination number.

A query of HLR 828 yielding more than one identifier, such as “123” and“456” in the above example, may result in HLR/VLR interface 826formulating a query for each identifier in VLR 830. In one embodiment,as long as one such identifier is determined to be active, the deviceassociated with the identifiers may be determined to be active.

In another example, traffic control module 102 may receive a requestintended for recipient 836 identified by 555-555-7777. In oneembodiment, traffic control module 102 may have previously determinedthrough, for example, LIDB interface 820 that such a destination numberis valid. In another embodiment, traffic control module 102 may have notattempted to previously determine whether such a destination number isvalid. Traffic control module 102 may send information about the requestto HLR/VLR interface 826, which may formulate a query for thedestination number in HLR 828. The query of HLR 828 may return anidentifier “789” in VLR “ABC.” HLR/VLR interface 826 may interpret thereturn of the identifier as an indication that the destination number isregistered in HLR 828, and thus valid. HLR/VLR interface 826 may notifytraffic control module 102 that the number is valid in terms of HLRinformation. Traffic control module 102 may determine that thedestination number 555-555-7777 is valid, based on such information.HLR/VLR interface 826 may identify the VLR “ABC” associated with theidentifiers as VLR 830. Thus, HLR/VLR interface 826 may formulate aquery for the identifier “789” in VLR 830. In one embodiment, the queryof VLR 830 may be for a status indication associated with identifier“789.” In such an embodiment, the query may return a status of “OFF.”Traffic control module 102 may determine that the device associated withdestination number 555-555-7777 is not active, based on the return of astatus of “OFF”, and may not forward the connection request for555-555-7777 to target service network 806. In fact, the recipient 836may be inactive, and thus not communicatively coupled to network device838. The result of the determination may be stored in call recorddatabase 562 as a failed attempt to reach the destination number. Theconnection request may never leave traffic control module 102 or gateway212. In response to the connection request, traffic control module 102may send an error message, a spoofed reply, or other suitableinformation to source network 818. The spoofed reply may indicate to theoriginator that, for example, the request was forwarded, that a certainamount of time passed, but no reply was received.

In yet another example, traffic control module 102 may receive a requestintended for recipient identified by 555-555-1112. In one embodiment,traffic control module 102 may have previously determined through, forexample, LIDB interface 820, that such a destination number is valid. Inanother embodiment, traffic control module 102 may have not attempted topreviously determine whether such a destination number is valid. Trafficcontrol module 102 may send information about the request to HLR/VLRinterface 826, which may formulate a query for the destination number inHLR 828. The query of HLR 828 may return an identifier “987” in VLR“ABC.” HLR/VLR interface 826 may interpret the return of the identifieras an indication that the destination number is registered in HLR 828,and thus valid. HLR/VLR interface 826 may notify traffic control module102 that the number is valid in terms of HLR information. Trafficcontrol module 102 may determine that the destination number555-555-1112 is valid, based on such information. HLR/VLR interface 826may identify the VLR “ABC” associated with the identifiers as VLR 830.Thus, HLR/VLR interface 826 may formulate a query for the identifier“987” in VLR 830. In one embodiment, the query of VLR 830 may be forwhether VLR 830 contains any local number information associated withidentifier “987.” In such an embodiment, the query may return a nullvalue, no result, or error. Traffic control module 102 may determinethat the device associated with destination number 555-555-1112 is notactive, based on the return of such information, and may not forward theconnection request for 555-555-1112 to target service network 806. Theresult of the determination may be stored in call record database 562 asa failed attempt to reach the destination number. The connection requestmay never leave traffic control module 102 or gateway 212. In responseto the connection request, traffic control module 102 may send an errormessage, a spoofed reply, or other suitable information to sourcenetwork 818. The spoofed reply may indicate to the originator that, forexample, the request was forwarded, that a certain amount of timepassed, but no reply was received.

In still yet another example, traffic control module 102 may receive arequest intended for recipient 850 identified by 555-555-1111. In oneembodiment, traffic control module 102 may have previously determinedthrough, for example, LIDB interface 820, that such a destination numberis invalid. In another embodiment, traffic control module 102 may havenot attempted to previously determine whether such a destination numberis valid. Traffic control module 102 may send information about therequest to HLR/VLR interface 826, which may formulate a query for thedestination number in HLR 828. The query of HLR 828 may fail to return aresulting identifier from HLR 828. HLR/VLR interface 826 may interpretthe failure to return an identifier as an indication that thedestination number is not registered in HLR 828, and thus invalid.HLR/VLR interface 826 may notify traffic control module 102 that thenumber is was not found in HLR 828. Traffic control module 102 maydetermine that the destination number 555-555-1111 is invalid, based onsuch information. However, if HLR/VLR interface 826 does find an entryfor 555-555-1111 in HLR 828, HLR/VLR interface 826 formulate a query forthe associated identifier in VLR 830. If the query returns a null value,no result, or error, HLR/VLR interface 826 may indicate such a result totraffic control module 102. Traffic control module 102 may determinethat the destination number is not active or is invalid, based on thereturn of such information, and may not forward the connection requestfor 555-555-1111 to target service network 806. The result of thedetermination may be stored in call record database 562 as a failedattempt to reach the destination number. The connection request maynever leave traffic control module 102 or gateway 212. In response tothe connection request, traffic control module 102 may send an errormessage, a spoofed reply, or other suitable information to sourcenetwork 818. The spoofed reply may indicate to the originator that, forexample, the request was forwarded, that a certain amount of timepassed, but no reply was received.

In one embodiment, traffic control module 102 may determine whether aconnection request from an originator 104 is configured to target anappropriate type of recipient 108. For example, a connection request maybe for voice traffic but may target a fax recipient. In another example,a connection request may be for fax traffic but may target a wirelessrecipient. In yet another example, a connection request may be an SMSmessage but may target a PSTN or wireless recipient unable to handle therequest. Such mismatched telephony types may be the result an autodialertargeting multiple phone lines. In such a case, the autodialer may bemaking calls to sequentially numbered lines or may be targeting a listof recipients with out-of-date information.

Traffic control module 102 may examine the connection request todetermine the telephony type. Traffic control module 102 may access anysuitable source of information to determine a type of recipient, such asLERG database 364 or LIDB 824. Querying a destination number of arecipient 108 targeted by the connection request may result in, forexample, an indication that recipient 108 is a fax, PSTN, wireless, orother type of recipient or device. Traffic control module 102 maycompare the telephony type of the connection request and the determinedtype of recipient 108. If the types are mismatched such that recipient108 would be unable to successfully handle the connection request,traffic control module 102 may determine that the connection request isinvalid. Traffic control module 102 may send an error or spoofed replyto originator 104 if the connection request is invalid, withoutforwarding the connection request to recipient 108. If the device typeof recipient 108 is configured to properly receive the connectionrequest, traffic control module may determine that the connectionrequest is valid. In such a case, traffic control module 102 may forwardthe connection request to recipient. Further, traffic control module 102may record the connection attempt in call record database 362. If theconnection request was invalid, traffic control module 102 may recordthe attempt as an error.

In one embodiment, system 100 may determine whether a list ofdestination numbers, each potentially associated with a recipient 108,is valid or not. The list of destination numbers may be provided by, forexample, a service provider such as voice provider 234 or text provider236, or an entity operating telemarketing or activities involving largenumbers of outbound calls. The list may be provided to system 100 inorder to remove numbers from the list that, for example, are on a DNClist, do not correspond to a valid or registered recipient 108, or donot correspond to an intended type of recipient. The list of destinationnumbers may be thus scrubbed to avoid generating connection requests forrecipients 108 which could not or should not receive such connectionrequests.

For each element in the list, traffic control module 102 may examine thedestination number. Traffic control module 102 may determine whether thedestination number is contained, for example, within cached DNC database698 or DNC database 696. If so, then traffic control module 102 mayremove the destination number from the list. Further, traffic controlmodule 102 may determine whether the destination number is within LIDB824, or HLR 828 and VLR 830. If so, then traffic control module 102 mayremove the destination number from the list. In addition, trafficcontrol module may determine the nature of the device associated withrecipient 108. If, for example, the device is not a landline or wirelessdevice, then traffic control module 102 may remove the destinationnumber from the list.

After the elements of the list have been examined and invalid orunwanted elements removed, the scrubbed list may be provided to theservice provider or entity requesting it. The recipients 108 in the listmay then be called.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a method 900 forreducing network congestion. Method 900 may be conducted on behalf of,for example, a service provider to reduce network congestion deliveredfrom within an originating telephony network. In another example, method900 may be conducted on behalf of a service provider to reduce networkcongestion in a destination telephony network.

In step 905, a telephony connection request may be received for anintended recipient. In step 910, originator and recipient informationabout the connection request may be determined. The telephony connectionrequest may have originated from a telephony device through a sourcenetwork, including particular intermediate network devices. Theoriginating telephony device may be identified by, for example, a sourcenumber. The intermediate network devices in the source network may beidentified by, for example, an OCN. The telephony connection request maybe made for a recipient associated with, for example, an destinationnumber and resident within a destination network. The destinationnetwork may include particular intermediate network devices. Theintermediate network devices may be identified by, for example, an OCN.

In step 915, it may be determined whether the originator is valid. Anysuitable method may be used to determine whether the originator isvalid. In one embodiment, the information provided in the connectionrequest may be compared against one or more sources of information todetermine whether information about the alleged originator matches knowninformation. Step 915 may be implemented, for example, fully or in partby method 1000 of FIG. 10. If the originator is not valid, then in step920 any suitable response may be taken. The connection request may notbe forwarded. An error or a spoofed reply may be sent to the originator.In one embodiment, an SIP code “403” denial may be generated and sent tothe originator. Method 900 may then proceed to step 965.

If the originator is valid, then in step 925 it may be determinedwhether the connection request has been made to a destination number ona DNC list. in one embodiment, step 925 may be conducted on behalf of aservice provider handling the origination of connection requests. Inanother embodiment, execution of step 925 may be enabled if indicationsof network congestion have been detected through previous call orconnection history. Such network congestion indications may be based onthe identities of one or more of the originator, source networkelements, destination network elements, or recipients. The indicationsof network congestion may be determined through, for example, a certainnumber of failed connection requests exceeding a given threshold amount.Determining whether the connection request has been made to adestination number on a DNC list may be conducted in any suitablemanner. For example, a cached version of a DNC may be accessed. Step 925may be implemented fully or in part by method 11000 of FIG. 11.

If the connection request is determined to be made to a destinationnumber on a DNC list, then in step 930 any suitable response may betaken. The connection request may not be forwarded. If the connectionrequest has been received at a gateway or other telephony networkequipment, the connection request may not leave the equipment. An erroror a spoofed reply may be sent to the originator. In one embodiment, anSIP code “487” denial may be generated and sent to the originator.Method 900 may then proceed to step 965.

If the connection request is not determined to be made to a destinationnumber on a DNC list, then in step 935, the local number or telephonynetwork of the intended recipient may be determined. The local number ornetwork may be determined in any suitable manner. In one example, a LERGdatabase may be accessed to determine routing information for thenetwork of the intended recipient. In another example, the intendedrecipient may have a destination number that has been ported from oneservice provider to another. In such a case, a central database forlocal number portability may be accessed to determine routinginformation for the number, or a former service provider may be accessedto determine a current service provider, which in turn may be accessedto determine routing information for the number. In yet another example,a recipient may be addressed within its service network by a localnumber such as an internal service number. The internal service numberand associated routing information may be determined by looking up theinternal service number in a database, such as an LNP database, andusing the internal service number to determine routing information forthe recipient. In still yet another example, routing information for arecipient may be determined by examining records of call and connectionhistory.

In step 940, call or connection history may be determined. In oneembodiment, a history database may be accessed to determine call orconnection history. Information such as previous connections orattempted connections may be determined. Such information may includeoriginating information, destination information, and resulting status.The originating information may include identification of the source ofthe connection or attempted connection, such as source number or sourceOCN. The destination information may include identification of theintended recipient of the connection or attempted connection, such asdestination number or destination OCN. The resulting status may includeinformation regarding the outcome of the connection or the connectionrequest. The resulting status may include, for example, an indication ofa successful connection, a duration of a connection, an error returnedin response to an attempt, or the nature of the error.

In step 945, it may be determined whether the connection request, recentcall history, or connection history, violates thresholds which may thusindicate network congestion. Exceeding such thresholds may be anindication of autodialers. Any suitable threshold may be used, such asnumber or percent of errors or unsuccessful traffic, calls per second,an increase in traffic, or destination numbers dialed in sequence. Suchtraffic may be defined in any suitable manner, such as traffic at aparticular destination or portion of a destination network, between aparticular destination and a particular source, between a particularportion of a destination network and a particular portion of a sourcenetwork, or any combination thereof. Such thresholds may be stored in,for example, settings, a record, a file, a database, or any suitableentity. Step 945 may be implemented fully or in part by method 1200 ofFIG. 12. If the connection request, recent call history, or recentconnection history violates such thresholds, any suitable action may betaken. Such actions may be implemented fully or in part by method 1200of FIG. 12. Examples of such action may include throttling subsequenttraffic, including the received connection request. Throttling trafficmay include not forwarding a certain percentage of received connectionrequests to the intended recipient or recipient network. The certainpercentages may be established by settings, for example. Throttlingtraffic may be performed for a specified duration. Another example ofsuch action may include enabling other tests or checks on receivedconnections. Yet another example of such action may include reroutingthe connection request through alternative networks rather than theintended destination network. In one embodiment, if the connectionrequest, recent call history, or recent connection history violatesthresholds, then method 900 may proceed to step 960.

If the connection request, recent call history, or recent connectionhistory does not violate thresholds, or if the connection request isallowed despite throttling connection requests, in step 950 it may bedetermined whether the connection request would successfully reach theintended recipient. Any suitable test may be used to make such adetermination. For example, the type of connection request may becompared against the type of recipient, the destination number may bechecked to be determined whether it is valid, or it may be determinedwhether the recipient is registered and available to receive connectionrequests. Step 950 may be implemented fully or in part by method 1300 ofFIG. 13.

If the connection request would not successfully reach the intendedrecipient, then method 900 may proceed to step 960. If the connectionrequest would successfully reach the intended recipient, or if at leastno tests of the connection request indicate otherwise, then in step 955the connection request may be forwarded to the intended recipient. Theconnection request may be forwarded to the intended recipient throughthe designated destination network. The connection request and thesubsequent results may be logged or stored. Such stored information maybe used in subsequent execution of method 900 to, for example, makedeterminations such as those in step 945.

In step 960, it may have been determined that the connection requestwould not successfully reach the intended recipient or that congestionthresholds have been exceeded. In response to such a determination, anysuitable action may be taken. The connection request may not beforwarded to the intended recipient or the target telephony networkcontaining the intended recipient. By not forwarding the connectionrequest, the target telephony network may not need to expend resourcestransporting the connection request to the intended recipient only tofail to successfully deliver the connection request. Further, congestionin the target telephony network may be reduced by not forwarding theconnection request. In one embodiment, an error may be provided to theoriginator of the connection request. In another embodiment, a spoofedresponse may be provided to the originator of the connection request.The spoofed response may indicate that the connection request was sentto the intended recipient. Further, the spoofed response may indicatethat the connection request is being processed, has resulted in ringingthe intended recipient, that there was no answer, that intendedrecipient was unavailable, or that the connection request reachedvoicemail.

In step 965, the connection request and the subsequent results may belogged or stored. Such stored information may be used in subsequentexecution of method 900 to, for example, make determinations such asthose in step 945. Further, the information regarding the results, suchas what tests determined that the connection request would not beforwarded, may be stored in billing records. Such billing records may beused to invoice or otherwise provide information to a service providerfor whom method 900 is conducted. Such a service provider may include,for example, a destination service provider for whom method 900 isconducted to reduce congestions, or an originating service provider forwhom method 900 is conducted to eliminate excessive originating calls.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a method 1000 fordetermining whether or not an originator of a telephony connectionrequest is valid. Method 1000 may implement fully or in part step 915 ofFIG. 9. Method 1000 may be conducted to determine, for example, whetherthe originator of the connection request is attempting to spoof anyinformation regarding itself. Such an attempt to spoof information maybe indicative that the originator is an autodialer. Method 1000 mayimplement fully or in part a verification of the automatic numberidentifier validity of the originator.

In step 1005, a phone number or similar identifier of the originator ofthe connection request may be determined. Such a determination may bemade by accepting the identification that the connection requestpurports is valid. In step 1010, information regarding telephonyequipment used to send the connection request may be determined. Such adetermination may be made by accepting information provided by theconnection request. The information may include, for example, routinginformation or identifiers of network equipment.

In step 1015, a database, database cache, or other source of informationmay be accessed using the phone number determined in step 1005. Anysuitable source of information may be used. In one embodiment, a sourceof billing information may be used. In another embodiment, a LERGdatabase may be used. In step 1020, it may be determined whether thephone number was found in the source of information. If not, then method1000 may proceed to step 1050.

If the phone number was found in the source of information, then in step1025 one or more identifiers of network equipment associated with thephone number may be accessed in the source of information. Suchidentifiers may indicate a portion of the routing information or othernetwork equipment known to the source of information as associated withthe phone number in question. The identifiers may include, for example,a local exchange or a device with a particular OCN. In step 1030, theidentifier provided by the connection request and the identifierretrieved from the source of information may be compared. In step 1035,it may be determined whether the two identifiers match. A failure tomatch the identifiers may indicate that the connection request containsspoofed information. If the identifiers do not match then method 1000may proceed to step 1050.

If the identifiers do match, then in step 1040 it may be determined thatthe connection request does not contain spoofed information and haspassed the ANI test. In step 1045, the connection request may be allowedto be forwarded and information regarding the attempt may be stored. Theinformation may be stored in a call record database which may beaccessed to determine network congestion conditions.

If the identifiers do not match, or if the phone number was not found inthe source of information, in step 1050 it may be determined that theconnection request contains spoofed information and has failed the ANItest. The connection request may be denied. The information may bestored in a call record database, which may be accessed to determinenetwork congestion conditions. Any suitable corrective action may betaken, such as sending an error or a spoofed reply to the originator.The spoofed reply may not accurately reflect the outcome of the attempt.The spoofed reply may implicitly or explicitly indicate that theconnection request was forwarded. In one embodiment, an SIP code “403”denial may be generated and sent to the originator. The originator ofthe connection request may be determined to be an autodialer. Subsequentconnection requests from the originator may be throttled, denied, orreplied to with a spoofed response. Such connection requests may bedenied without forwarding the connection request to the intendedrecipient.

FIG. 11 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a method 1100 fordetermining whether or not an intended recipient of a telephonyconnection request should be called. Method 1100 may implement fully orin part step 925 of FIG. 9. Method 1100 may be conducted to determine,for example, whether the intended recipient is on a DNC list. In anotherexample, it may be determined whether the intended recipient is of aundesirable, unreachable, or forbidden device or service type. In oneembodiment, method 1100 may be conducted on behalf of a service providerto screen outbound connection attempts to avoid calling particularclasses of intended recipient or calling particular intended recipients.Such service providers may be unable to control the introduction of suchconnection attempts into the service provider but may yet be responsiblefor the financial or technical expense of forwarding the requests. Theservice provider through which the connection request was sent may beresponsible for the expense, overhead, or penalties associated with theconnection request, even though the service provider may not haveoriginally placed the connection request into the telephony network. Inanother embodiment, method 1100 may be executed upon a determinationthat a target service provider or group of recipients is experiencingnetwork congestion. Such network congestion may be indicative that thetarget service provider or group of recipients is the target of anautodialer.

In step 1105, an identifier for an intended recipient of a connectionrequest may be determined. The identifier may be a phone number, whichmay be determined from the connection request. In step 1110, a devicetype, service type, or other classification of the intended recipient.Such classifications may include, for example, a landline, wirelessphone, fax device, or text device. The classification of the intendedrecipient may be determined by accessing a source of information, suchas a LERG database, using the identifier of the intended recipientdetermined in step 1105.

In step 1115, a source of information containing DNC lists may beaccessed. Any suitable source of DNC information may be used. The sourceof information may include, for example, DNC lists issued by a serviceprovider, government, or other entity. In some cases, DNC lists issuedby service providers or government may be only available to scrub listsof phone numbers to be dialed. Thus, the source of information mayinclude a cache of DNC list information maintained for real-time accessfor evaluating network requests.

In step 1120, it may be determined whether the intended recipient wasfound in the DNC lists in the source of information. If so, then method1100 may proceed to step 1140. If the intended recipient was not foundin the DNC lists in the source of information, then in step 1125 it maybe determined whether the intended recipient is allowed to receiveconnection requests of the type being evaluated. The connection requestsmay originate from, for example, a marketer. Such a determination may bemade by, for example, analyzing the type of recipient as determined instep 1110. Some types of recipients may be unable to receive the type ofconnection request being issued. For example, a marketing phone call maynot be correctly received by a recipient having a fax type. Thus, amismatch between the connection request type and the intended recipienttype may mean that the recipient is not allowed to receive theconnection request. Some types of recipients may be forbidden by, forexample, service provider policy or government of authority to becontacted with a marketing call. For example, marketing phone callsmight not be allowed by policy or law to be made to mobile devicerecipients. Thus, if a recipient has a mobile device type, the requestmay not be allowed to receive the connection request.

If the intended recipient is not allowed to receive the connectionrequest, then method 1100 may proceed to step 1140. If the intendedrecipient is allowed to receive the connection request, then in step1130 it may be determined that the connection request has passed the DNCtest. In step 1135, the connection request may be allowed to beforwarded and information regarding the attempt may be stored. Theinformation may be stored in a call record database which may beaccessed to determine network congestion conditions.

If the intended recipient is not allowed to receive the connectionrequest, then in step 1140 it may be determined that the connectionrequest has failed the DNC test. In step 1145 the connection request maybe denied. The information may be stored in a call record database,which may be accessed to determine network congestion conditions. Anysuitable corrective action may be taken, such as sending an error or aspoofed reply to the originator. The spoofed reply may not accuratelyreflect the outcome of the attempt. The spoofed reply may implicitly orexplicitly indicate that the connection request was forwarded. In oneembodiment, an SIP code “487” denial may be generated and sent to theoriginator. Subsequent connection requests from the originator may bethrottled, denied, or replied to with a spoofed response. Suchconnection requests may be denied without forwarding the connectionrequest to the intended recipient.

FIG. 12 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a method 1200 fordetermining whether or not network congestion exists with regards to anintended recipient of a telephony connection request. Method 1200 mayimplement fully or in part step 945 of FIG. 9. Method 1200 may beconducted to determine, for example, whether congestion already existswith regards to the intended recipient or whether the addition of theintended request will cause network congestion. The congestion may bethe result of, for example, excessive connection requests. The excessiveconnection requests may be an indication or related to an autodialer.Further, method 1200 may be conducted to determine whether any networkpolicies of the intended recipient have been previously violated. Assuch, while the network of the intended recipient may not beexperiencing measurable network congestion, additional connectionrequests that are associated with previous violation may be treated asif the connection requests are causing congestion.

In step 1205, a source number and source routing information associatedwith a received connection request may be determined. In step 1210, adestination number and destination routing information associated withthe received request may be determined. The source number anddestination number may include a phone number. The routing informationmay include identification of network components, switches, exchanges,or other portions of a source network that has provided the connectionrequest. Such routing information may include, for example, an OCNnumber.

In step 1215, it may be determined whether the number of errorsgenerated by connection requests between a given source and a givendestination has exceeded a specified threshold. The given source andgiven destination may be chosen from any suitable combination thereof.The source may be defined in terms of, for example, a number or routinginformation. In addition, the destination may be defined in terms of,for example, a number or routing information. The threshold may bedefined, for example, in terms of an absolute number of errors, errorsper specified time period, or a percentage of errors within a specifiedtime period. The errors may include, for example, short-duration calls,prevented connection requests, or error messages from connectionrequests failing to reach intended recipients. If the errors generatedby connections between the given source and given destination exceed thespecified threshold, then method 1200 may proceed to step 1240.Otherwise, method 1200 may proceed to step 1220.

In step 1220, it may be determined whether the number of errorsgenerated by connection requests from a given source has exceeded aspecified threshold. The given source may be defined in terms of, forexample, a number or routing information. The threshold may be defined,for example, in terms of an absolute number of errors, errors perspecified time period, or a percentage of errors within a specified timeperiod. The analysis of step 1220 may be similar to the analysis of step1215. However, the analysis of step 1220 may not be restricted to errorsgenerated from calls between a given source and a given destination, butbe made of any errors generated from a given source. If the errorsgenerated by connections from the given source exceed the specifiedthreshold, then method 1200 may proceed to step 1240. Otherwise, method1200 may proceed to step 1225. In one embodiment, step 1220 may beconducted by evaluating whether the number of errors generated byconnection requests to a given destination has exceeded a specifiedthreshold.

In step 1225, it may be determined whether a traffic spike has occurredin connection requests from a given source or to a given destination.Such a traffic spike may be defined by whether the connection attemptshave been made to or from the given source or destinations has exceededa given threshold. The source or destination may include, for example, anumber or routing information. The spike threshold may be defined, forexample, in terms of an absolute number of connection requests,connection requests per given time period, or a percentage increase ofconnection requests. In one embodiment, step 1225 may be conductedconsidering the effect of the present connection request in thecalculations. In another embodiment, step 1225 may be conducted usinghistorical call information without considering the effect of thepresent connection request. If the traffic spike exceeds the giventhreshold, then method 1200 may proceed to step 1240. Otherwise, method1200 may proceed to step 1230.

In step 1230, it may be determined whether the connection request ispart of a larger quantity of connection requests attempting to contactdestinations in a sequential order. The determination may includedetermining whether historical information reflects a pattern ofdestination numbers being called, and whether the present connectionrequest would exceed a given threshold of allowed sequential calls. Thesequential order of destinations may be defined by the destinationnumber and may include any suitable pattern of calling. For example,sequentially numbered destination numbers (555-555-1111 . . .555-555-1112) may be contacted in succession. The pattern of attemptedcalls may include forward or reverse progression of numbers.Furthermore, the pattern of attempted calls may skip numbers in arepeating manner, such as calling every other or every thirdsequentially ordered destination number. If the number of sequentiallyattempted destination numbers exceeds the given threshold, then method1200 may proceed to step 1240. Otherwise, method 1200 may proceed tostep 1235.

In step 1235, it may be determined whether the traffic between a givensource and a given destination has exceeded a specified threshold. Thesource and destination may be defined by, for example, a number orrouting information. The specified threshold may be defined in terms of,for example, absolute number of connection requests, connection requestsper given time period, percentage of traffic for the given source ordestination, or percentage of overall traffic. If the traffic betweenthe given source and destination exceeds the specified threshold, thenmethod 1200 may proceed to step 1240. Otherwise, method 1200 may proceedto step 1265.

In step 1240, it may have been determined that network congestion existswith respect to the connection request. In one embodiment, such networkcongestion may have been determined to exist without regards to thecharacteristics of the present connection request. In anotherembodiment, such network congestion may have been determined to exist ifthe present connection request is forwarded to the destination. Inresponse to a determination of network congestion, any suitable actionmay be made, such as those described in steps 1245-1260. The particularaction taken may be made based upon the particular determinations insteps 1215-1235. The connection request may be denied and not forwardedto the destination.

In step 1245, connection requests from the source of the presentconnection request may be throttled. The source may be defined in termsof a source number or routing information. The connection requestsoriginating from the source may be denied for a certain length of time.Thus, subsequent connection requests may also be denied. Further, apercentage of the connection requests originating from the source may bedenied, while the remainder are allowed to be forwarded to thedestination.

In step 1250, connection requests to the intended destination of thepresent connection request may be throttled. The destination may bedefined in terms of a destination number or routing information. Theconnection requests to the destination may be denied for a certainlength of time. Further, a percentage of the connection requestsintended for the destination may be denied, while the remainder areallowed to be forwarded to the destination.

In step 1255, the connection request may be redirected along alternativerouting or network paths. The alternative route or network path mayinclude network equipment or links, for example, configured for lowerpriority traffic, configured for less guaranteed availability, belongingto other entities, or configured for metered traffic to the sender.

In step 1260, additional testing may be enabled. The additional testingmay be resource intensive and thus enabling the testing only uponcongestion detection may more efficiently employ the testing techniques.Additional testing may include other determinations of whether a senderof the connection request is an autodialer or otherwise sendingexcessive connection requests. For example, ANI testing, such asdetailed in FIG. 10, or forward-looking tests, such as detailed below inFIG. 13, may be enabled upon the detection of congestion associated withthe connection request. In another example, certain tests of method1200, such as the sequentially dialed number determination in step 1230,may be enabled upon congestion detection by other steps.

In step 1265, it may have been determined that the connection request isnot associated with congestion conditions. Consequently, the connectionrequest may be allowed.

FIG. 13 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a method 1300 fordetermining whether or not a connection request is likely to return anerror if the connection request were to be forwarded to the intendedrecipient. Forwarding such a connection request and the associatederror-processing may unnecessarily waste significant resources.Consequently, tests may be made to predict whether the connectionrequest would fail. Such tests may include, for example, whether theconnection request is compatible with the intended recipient, whetherthe recipient is a valid working number, and whether the recipient isactive on registered on the network.

In step 1305, the destination number and destination routing informationfor a received connection request may be determined. The destinationnumber may include a phone number. The routing information may includeidentification of network components, switches, exchanges, or otherportions of a source network that has provided the connection request.Such routing information may include, for example, an OCN number.

In step 1310, local number portability may be determined. If the device,provider, or other aspect of an intended recipient has changed, the newdevice, provider, or other aspect may be determined. Local numberportability may be determined through any suitable process. Informationspecific to the device may be determined, such as a number used locallywithin a provider or an exchange to identify the recipient that isdifferent than the generally available number by which a caller makes aconnection request to the recipient.

In step 1315, the type of recipient may be determined. While FIG. 13illustrates three options—fax, PSTN, or Wireless—any other suitable typemay be used. The type of recipient may be determined in any suitablemanner, such as looking up the destination number in a LERG database.Furthermore, alternative numbers determined by local number portabilitymay be used to determine the type of recipient. Subsequent todetermining the type of recipient, the type of request or the type ofthe sender of the request may be determined and compared with therecipient type. Some types of connection requests may be incompatiblewith certain categories of recipients. Sending such a connection requestmight yield an error. Thus any suitable process may be used to determinewhether the request is compatible with the recipient type. In theexample of FIG. 13, if the recipient is a fax device, method 1300 mayproceed to step 1320. If the recipient is a PSTN device, method 1300 mayproceed to step 1325. If the recipient is a wireless device, method 1300may proceed to step 1325.

In step 1320, it may be determined whether the request is fax request orotherwise compatible with a fax recipient. Such a determination may bemade by, for example, examining header information in the request ordetermining the type of the sender by examining a LERG database for thesender's phone number. If the request is not a fax request or isotherwise incompatible with a fax recipient, then method 1300 mayproceed to step 1345. Otherwise, if the request is a fax request or isotherwise compatible with a fax recipient then method 1300 may proceedto step 1335.

In step 1320, it may be determined whether the request is a voicerequest or otherwise compatible with a fax recipient. Such adetermination may be made by, for example, examining header informationin the request or determining the type of the sender by examining a LERGdatabase for the sender's phone number. If the request is not a voicerequest or is otherwise incompatible with a voice or PSTN recipient,then method 1300 may proceed to step 1345. Otherwise, if the request isa fax request or is otherwise compatible with a fax recipient thenmethod 1300 may proceed to step 1335.

In step 1330, it may be determined whether the request is voice request,text request, or otherwise compatible with a wireless recipient. Such adetermination may be made by, for example, examining header informationin the request or determining the type of the sender by examining a LERGdatabase for the sender's phone number. If the request is not voicerequest, text request, or otherwise compatible with a wirelessrecipient, then method 1300 may proceed to step 1345. Otherwise, if therequest is a fax request or is otherwise compatible with a fax recipientthen method 1300 may proceed to step 1340.

In step 1335, it may be determined whether the destination number isvalid. The determination may be made in any suitable manner Some methodsof making the determination may be indirect. For example, thedestination number may be looked up in an LIDB to determine billingaddress information. If no billing address is found in the LIDB for thedestination number, it may be determined that the destination number isnot valid. However, if a billing address is found in the LIDB, then itmay be determined that the destination number is valid. If thedestination number is valid, then method 1300 may proceed to step 1355.Otherwise, method 1300 may proceed to step 1345.

In step 1340, it may be determined whether the destination number isregistered and the device is active. The determination may be made inany suitable manner. For example, whether a destination number is validand registered may be determined by examining an HLR database. Further,whether the device is active on a network and available to receive theconnection request may be determined by cross-referencing the HLRinformation with a VLR database. If the destination number is registeredand the device is active, then method 1300 may proceed to step 1355.Otherwise, method 1300 may proceed to step 1345.

In step 1345, it may have been determined that sending the connectionrequest will return an error. In step 1350, the connection request maybe denied. A spoofed reply or an error may be sent to the sender. Method1300 may proceed to step 1360.

In step 1355, it may have been determined that sending the connectionrequest is likely to succeed. The connecting request may be forwarded tothe intended recipient.

In step 1360, the results of the analysis and determinations of method1300 may be recorded. Such information may be used as historicalinformation for subsequent determinations of, for example, congestion ordeterminations of autodialers.

FIG. 14 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a method 1400 fordetermining whether or not connection requests should be made forelements of a given set of destination numbers. Such a set ofdestination numbers may reflect potential recipients to be contacted.Method 1400 may be performed as a service for telemarketers or providersof a connection request sender network. The set of destination numbersmay be received as a file, record, data structure, or other suitablemechanism. As elements within the set are verified or eliminated, theelements may be marked, removed, or otherwise managed according to theneeds of a subsequent user of the set to contact recipients. Anysuitable number or combination of tests or determinations may be made toverify the contents of the set of destination numbers as validrecipients.

In step 1405, a number in the set to be contacted with a connectionrequest may be determined. In step 1410, it may be determined whetherthe destination number is on a DNC list. Step 1410 may be implementedfully or in part by method 1100 of FIG. 11. If the destination number ison a DNC list, then method 1400 may proceed to step 1435.

If the destination is not on a DNC list, then in step 1415 it may bedetermined whether the recipient type is compatible with the sender orthe connection request. Step 1415 may be implemented fully or in part bymethod 1300 of FIG. 13, including such steps as 1315-1330. If therecipient type is not compatible with the sender or the connectionrequest, then method 1400 may proceed to step 1435.

If the recipient type is not compatible with the sender or theconnection request, then in step 1420 it may be determined whether thedestination number is valid. Step 1420 may be implemented fully or inpart by method 1300 of FIG. 13, including such steps as 1335. If thedestination number is not valid, then method 1400 may proceed to step1435.

If the destination number is valid, then in step 1425 it may bedetermined whether the destination number has billing information. Step1425 may be implemented fully or in part by method 1300 of FIG. 13,including such steps as 1335 or 1340. If the destination number does nothave billing information, then method 1400 may proceed to step 1435.

If the destination number does not have billing information, then instep 1430 it may be determined whether the target device is registeredon a network and active. Step 1430 may be implemented fully or in partby method 1300 of FIG. 13, including such steps as 1340. If the targetdevice is not registered on a network and active, then method 1400 mayproceed to step 1435. If the target device is registered on a networkand active, then the destination number may be allowed or otherwisemarked as available to be contacted. Method 1400 may proceed to step1440.

In step 1435, it may have been determined that the number should not beincluded in the set of numbers available to be contacted. Thedestination number may be, for example, marked accordingly in the set orremoved altogether.

In step 1440, it may be determined whether additional destinationnumbers in the set need to be evaluated. If so, method 1400 may repeatat step 1405. If not, then in step 1445 a list of the destinationnumbers, scrubbed for numbers not to call, may be provided to a client.

Methods 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, and 1400 may be implemented usingthe system of FIGS. 1-8, or any other system operable to implementmethods 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, and 1400. As such, the preferredinitialization point for methods 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, and 1400and the order of its steps may depend on the implementation chosen. Insome embodiments, some steps may be optionally omitted, repeated, orcombined. In some embodiments, some steps of methods 900, 1000, 1100,1200, 1300, and 1400 may be executed in parallel with other steps ofmethods 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, and 1400. In certain embodiments,methods 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, and 1400 may be implementedpartially or fully in software embodied in computer-readable media.

For the purposes of this disclosure, computer-readable media may includeany instrumentality or aggregation of instrumentalities that may retaindata and/or instructions for a period of time. Computer-readable mediamay include, without limitation, storage media such as a direct accessstorage device (e.g., a hard disk drive or floppy disk), a sequentialaccess storage device (e.g., a tape disk drive), compact disk, CD-ROM,DVD, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and/or flash memory; aswell as communications media such wires, optical fibers, and otherelectromagnetic and/or optical carriers; and/or any combination of theforegoing.

Although the present disclosure has been described in detail, it shouldbe understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations canbe made hereto without departing from the spirit and the scope of thedisclosure as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving a telephonyconnection request at a location in a telephony network, the telephonyconnection request directed toward an intended recipient; determiningaddressing information regarding the intended recipient; determining astatus characteristic of the intended recipient based on the addressinginformation, wherein said status characteristic is based on activenetwork registration; determining a connection compatibility related tothe intended recipient; forwarding the received connection request;denying the received connection request; spoofing a reply; andredirecting connections to alternative paths.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising based on the status characteristic and the connectioncompatibility, determining whether the intended recipient wouldsuccessfully receive the telephony connection request if the telephonyconnection request was forwarded to the intended recipient; anddetermining the status characteristic of the telephony connectionrequest, wherein determining whether the intended recipient wouldsuccessfully receive the telephony connection request comprises:comparing the telephony connection request status characteristic and theintended recipient status characteristic; based on the comparison,determining that the telephony connection request and the intendedrecipient are incompatible; and based on the comparison, determiningthat the intended recipient would not successfully receive the telephonyrequest.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the telephony connectionrequest includes at least one of: a fax telephony connection request andthe intended recipient is not configured to receive faxes; a voicetelephony connection request and the intended recipient is notconfigured to receive voice calls; and a text telephony connectionrequest and the intended recipient is not configured to receive textmessages.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the intendedrecipient status characteristic includes at least one of: determiningwhether a telephony number associated with the intended recipient isvalid; determining that the intended recipient is a wireless recipient;determining whether the telephony number associated with the intendedrecipient is registered with a wireless network; and determining whethera device associated with the intended recipient is active on thewireless network.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining whetherthe telephony number associated with the intended recipient is validincludes accessing a line information data base using the telephonynumber.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a reply inresponse to the telephony connection request, wherein: forwarding thetelephony connection request to an intended recipient would result in asystem response; and the reply differs from the system response.
 7. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructionsthat when read by a processor perform: receiving a telephony connectionrequest at a location in a telephony network, the telephony connectionrequest directed toward an intended recipient; determining addressinginformation regarding the intended recipient; determining a statuscharacteristic of the intended recipient based on the addressinginformation, wherein said status characteristic is based on activenetwork registration; determining a connection compatibility related tothe intended recipient; forwarding the received connection request;denying the received connection request; spoofing a reply; andredirecting connections to alternative paths.
 8. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 7, further comprisinginstructions that when read by the processor perform: based on thestatus characteristic and the connection compatibility, determiningwhether the intended recipient would successfully receive the telephonyconnection request if the telephony connection request was forwarded tothe intended recipient; and determining the status characteristic of thetelephony connection request, wherein determining whether the intendedrecipient would successfully receive the telephony connection requestcomprises: comparing the telephony connection request statuscharacteristic and the intended recipient status characteristic; basedon the comparison, determining that the telephony connection request andthe intended recipient are incompatible; and based on the comparison,determining that the intended recipient would not successfully receivethe telephony request.
 9. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 8, wherein the telephony connection request includes atleast one of: a fax telephony connection request and the intendedrecipient is not configured to receive faxes; a voice telephonyconnection request and the intended recipient is not configured toreceive voice calls; and a text telephony connection request and theintended recipient is not configured to receive text messages.
 10. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, whereindetermining the intended recipient status characteristic includes atleast one of: determining whether a telephony number associated with theintended recipient is valid; determining that the intended recipient isa wireless recipient; determining whether the telephony numberassociated with the intended recipient is registered with a wirelessnetwork; and determining whether a device associated with the intendedrecipient is active on the wireless network.
 11. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein determiningwhether the telephony number associated with the intended recipient isvalid includes accessing a line information data base using thetelephony number.
 12. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 7, comprising instructions that when read by theprocessor perform sending a reply in response to the telephonyconnection request, wherein: forwarding the telephony connection requestto the intended recipient would result in a system response; and thereply differs from the system response.
 13. A system, comprising: aprocessor; and memory; wherein the processor and the memory arecommunicably coupled to one another; wherein the processor: receives atelephony connection request at a location in a telephony network, thetelephony connection request directed toward an intended recipient;determines addressing information regarding the intended recipient;determines a status characteristic of the intended recipient based onthe addressing information, wherein said status characteristic is basedon active network registration; determines a connection compatibilityrelated to the intended recipient; forwards the received connectionrequest; denies the received connection request; spoofs a reply; andredirects connections to alternative paths.
 14. The system of claim 13,wherein the processor: based on the status characteristic and theconnection compatibility, determining whether the intended recipientwould successfully receive the telephony connection request if thetelephony connection request was forwarded to the intended recipient;and determines the status characteristic of the telephony connectionrequest, wherein a determination of whether the intended recipient wouldsuccessfully receive the telephony connection request comprises:comparing the telephony connection request status characteristic and theintended recipient status characteristic; based on the comparison,determining that the telephony connection request and the intendedrecipient are incompatible; and based on the comparison, determiningthat the intended recipient would not successfully receive the telephonyrequest.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the telephony connectionrequest includes at least one of: a fax telephony connection request andthe intended recipient is not configured to receive faxes; a voicetelephony connection request and the intended recipient is notconfigured to receive voice calls; and a text telephony connectionrequest and the intended recipient is not configured to receive textmessages.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein a determination of theintended recipient status characteristic includes at least one of: adetermination whether a telephony number associated with the intendedrecipient is valid; a determination that the intended recipient is awireless recipient; a determination whether the telephony numberassociated with the intended recipient is registered with a wirelessnetwork; and a determination whether a device associated with theintended recipient is active on the wireless network.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the determination whether the telephony numberassociated with the intended recipient is valid includes accessing aline information data base using the telephony number.
 18. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the processor sends a reply in response to thetelephony connection request, wherein: the telephony connection requestforwarded to the intended recipient would result in a system response;and the reply differs from the system response.